LiBRAR  ETON 


20 


THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


^  'Of 

'  NOV  23  1931 


GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  MATTHEW; 


NOTES 


IXTEXDKD    rom 


SABBATH    SCHOOLS,  FAMILIES,  AND    MINISTERS. 


BY 

NATHANIEL  MARSHMAN 


m\t\  Illustrations, 


MEMPHIS,    TENN.: 
SOUTHERN  BAPTIST  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1870,  by 
GOULD    AND    LINCOLN, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


The    Memory 


HIS        FATHER, 


&eb.   mtfjantel    S&est    a®illtam«, 


TO    WHOSE 


PRECEPTS  AND  EXAMPLE  HE  IS  GREATLY  INDEBTED, 


THIS     YOIXJMB     IS     INSCRIBED 


TB«       lUIIOl. 


PREFACE 


£<X< 


The  Christian  public  may  ask  why  this  Commentary  was 
written.  To  such  an  inquiry  it  may  be  replied,  that  it  was 
written  to  aid  Sabbath-school  teachers  and  scholars,  and  the 
people  generally,  as  well  as  those  ministers  who  may  not  be' 
able  to  provide  themselves  with  large  and  expensive  Com- 
mentaries, in  securing  a  more  exact  understanding  of  the 
word  of  God,  so  far  as  is  possible  through  the  author,  by 
making  available  the  results  of  the  latest  biblical  scholarship. 
Since  most  of  the  other  similar  works  were  written,  much 
advance  has  been  made  in  knowledge  of  Palestine,  ancient 
Egypt,  and  Assyria ;  one  of  the  most  valuable  of  all  ancient 
manuscripts  has  been  brought  out  from  its  concealment  in  the 
convent  of  St.  Catherine,  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Sinai  (hence 
called  the  Sinaitic  Manuscript),  by  means  of  which,  in  part, 
a  more  accurate  Greek  text  has  been  obtained  ;  and  juster 
principles  of  criticism  have  been  reached. 

In  no  instance  has  the  author  passed  over  a  verse  in  silence 
to  avoid  its  difficulties.  It  has  been  his  purpose  to  bestow 
more  attention  upon  difficult  passages  than  upon  others. 
When  he  has  not  been  able  to  arrive  at  satisfactory  conclu- 


VI  PREFACE. 

sions,  he  has  not  hesitated  to  say  so.  In  some  cases,  proba- 
bility of  meaning  is  all  that  he  has  felt  justified  in  affirming. 
It  is  a  source  of  pleasure  to  all  sincere  Christians,  that,  con- 
cerning much  the  greater  part  of  the  Scriptures,  there  can  be 
no  difference  of  opinion.  Tjeis  «u'f>,  lowever,  portions  of  the 
Gospel  here  examined,  respecting  which  the  author  has  felt 
compelled  to  differ  from  other  commentators  whose  works  are 
intended  for  the  people.  Those  passages  which  teach,  more 
or  less  directly,  the  conditions  of  membership  in  a  Christian 
Church,  and  those  which  pertain  to  the  two  symbolic  rites  of 
Christianity,  have  been  explained,  by  most  expositors,  it 
seems  to  the  author,  in  a  manner  contrary  to  the  principles 
of  sound  criticism,  and  to  most  of  the  best  biblical  scholar- 
ship of  Christendom.  Baptism,  and  the  relation  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  to  baptism,  are  considered  at  some  length  in  the 
notes  on  the  nineteenth  and  twentieth  verses  of  the  last 
chapter. 

The  thanks  of  the  author  are  due  to  A.  N.  Arnold,  D.D., 
Professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary  of  Chicago,  formerly  a 
resident  missionary  in  Greece,  for  permission  to  examine  and 
appropriate  portions  of  a  valuable  manuscript  on  the  practice 
of  the  Greek  Church  in  respect  to  baptism ;  and  to  Rev. 
William  F.  Snow,  the  scholarly  pastor  of  the  Eliot  Congre- 
gational Church  in  Lawrence,  for  permission  to  transfer  the 
substance  of  an  unpublished  paper  read  before  the  Andover 
Association  of  Congregational  ministers,  on  the  very  difficult 
twenty-fourth  chapter.  The  view  is  unlike  that  usually 
taken. 


PREFACE.  Vn 

The  plan  and  arrangement  of  the  notes  differ  from  those 
of  most  other  similar  works. 

1.  This  Gospel  has  been  examined,  for  the  most  part,  as 
if  there  were  no  other.  Some  reference  to  the  others  has 
been  indispensable.  If,  in  them,  statements  shall  be  met, 
which  seem  to  be  in  conflict  with  the  record  already  exam- 
ined, or  which  present  a  more  distinct  view  of  our  Lord, 
they  will  be  carefully  considered. 

2.  The  notes  are  chiefly  explanatory;  yet  the  doctrinal, 
and  the  practical  are  not  wanting.  But,  instead  of  grouping 
doctrinal  and  practical  thoughts  at  the  close  of  each  chapter, 
in  a  sermon-like  way,  they  are  introduced  at  points  where  the 
text  itself  suggests  them.  It  has  been  the  aim  to  express 
practical  thoughts  in  a  condensed  form.  As  to  the  explana- 
tory parts,  the  author  has  endeavored,  on  the  one  hand,  to 
avoid  such  brevity  as  to  leave  the  inquirer  with  scarcely  a 
thread  upon  which  to  la}'  hold  in  his  search  for  truth ;  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  to  avoid  using  so  many  words  that  no 
sharp  and  definite  impression  can  be  made.  Most  Sabbath- 
school  teachers  have  so  little  time  for  the  study  of  the  lesson, 
that  they  are  very  justly  impatient  at  being  compelled  to 
wander  about  through  a  bewildering  forest  of  words.  If  one 
well-directed  blow  will  open  the  nut,  another  blow  does  posi- 
tive harm. 

3.  The  testimony  of  many  intelligent  Sabbath- school 
teachers  has  led  the  author  to  adopt  the  plan  of  making  the 
illustrative  part  of  the  work  fuller  than  is  usual,  believing 
that    illustrations  from    ancient    customs   and  from   sacred 


Vm  PREFACE. 

geography   should   be   sufficiently  numerous   to  obviate  the 
necessity  of  buying  books  in  this  department  of  knowledge. 

In  profound  gratitude  for  the  accumulated  knowledge  of 
past  ages,  it  may  be  said  that  the  means  of  giving  to  the 
people  of  the  present  day  a  conception  of  the  will  of  God,  as 
revealed  in  the  Bible,  are  undoubtedly  superior  to  those  of 
any  former  period. 

Should  this  volume  prove  acceptable,  it  may  be  followed 
by  one  or  more  on  the  other  Gospels.  If  God  should  crown 
the  present  effort  with  his  blessing,  to  him  be  all  the  praise. 

N.  M.  W. 

Mzthuen,  Mass.,  Jan.,  1870. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

pag  a 
The  Genealogy  and  Birth  of  Jesus 15 


CHAPTER    II. 
Events  Immediately  Follottcng  the  Birth       ....      22 

CHAPTER    III. 
The  Baptism  op  Jesus  by  John  the  Baptist    ....      39 

CFAPTE.R    TV. 
jesus  Tempted;  Begins  his  Ministry 47 

CHAPTER    V. 
Sermon  on  the  Mount.    Illustrations;  Class  1      .  57 

CHAPTER    VI. 
Sermon  on  the  Mount.     Illustrations;  Class  2     .        .        .81 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    VII. 
Sermon  on  the  Mount 95 

CHAPTER    VIII. 
A  Series  of  Miracles  ....         «...     101 

CHAi*iisR    IX. 
A  Series  of  Miracles 112 

CHAPTER    X. 
Jesus  Commissions  and  Sends  the  Twelve       ....    1J22 

CHAPTER    XI. 
A.  Message  from  John:  The  Lord's  Opinion  of  John     .        .     138 

CHAPTER    XII. 

The  Disciples  Plucking  Ears  of  Grain;  Jesus  Healing  a 
Withered  Hand,  and  xaLSEljt  AvCcjsed  by  the  Phari- 
sees, etc. -.  .     T47 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

Jesus  Illustrates  the  Pounding  and  the   Development   of 

his  Kingdom  in  seven  Parables 162 

1  — The  Sower 163 

2  — The  Ta^es   ......     168 

3  —  The  Mustard  Seed    ....     170 


CONTENTS.  XI 

4 —  The  Leaven 171 

5  — The  Hidden  Treasure        .         .         .     174 

6  — The  Pearl  Merchant          .         .        .175 
7 --The  Net 176 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

News    of    John's    Deat*i;     Feeding    a    Great    Multitude; 

Rescue  of  Peter 179 


CHAPTER    JLV. 

Debate  with  Pharisees  from  the  Capital  ;  Heals  a  Gentile 

in  the  Gentile  World;  Feeds  Four  Thousand        .        .     187 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

,i  Sign  Asked;  Peter  and  ins  Fellow-Disciples  Confess 
Jesus  as  the  Messiah;  Jesus  Foretells  his  own 
Death 194 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

The  Transfiguration;  A  Lunatic  Healed;  His  Death  again 

Announced .        .    202 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 
Jesus  Discourses  to  His  Disciples 209 

CHAPTER    XIX. 

Final    Departure   from   Galilee;    The   Divorce    Question; 

The  Rich  Young  Man 215 


Xn  CONTEXTS 


CHAPTER    XX. 

Parable    of    the    Laborers  ;     His     Death    once    more    An- 
nounced; Salome's  Request;  Two  Blind  Men  Cured       .     223 


CHAPTER    XXi. 

The  Triumphal  Entry  into  Jerusalem  ;  Cleanses  the 
Temple;  Curses  the  Fig-Tree;  Utters  the  Parable 
of  the  Two  Sons,  .and  the  Parable  of  the  Wicked 
Husbandmen 229 


CHAPTER    XXII. 
The   Parable    of  the  Marriage  Festival:   The   Pharisees, 

THE     HERODIANS,     AND     THE     SaDDL'CBES    AIM      TO      ENSNARE 

Jesus  with  Perplexing  Questions 240 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 
Jesus  Denounces  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  ....    248 

CHAPTER    XXIV. 
Jesus  Discourses  to  his  Disciples 257 

CHAPTER    XXV. 

The    Duty  of  Watching  for    the    Pinal   Coming  Further 

Enforced;  The  Last  Judgment 270 


CONTENTS.  Xin 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

The  Institution  of  the  Supper  ;  The  Lord's  Passion  ;  Peter's 

Denial 280 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

The  Suicide  of  Judas;  J<isus  Crucified  and  Buried      .        .    801 

CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

RtlteURKECTlON   G/f  JEdUS ;  THE  LAST"   COMMISSION  .  .  -     819 


Ht*t  at     Ellustration*. 

Bethlehem   ...           .       .    ,    .    .  23 

Jerusalem  as  seen  from  Olivet    ......  26 

Plan  of  Jerusalem .29 

Rachel's  Tomb    .....    *   •    ...  36 

Nazareth       .              ,          ...  38 

Sandals  .....   45 

Winnowing 46 

Fishing-Net 64. 

Altar 71 

Water-Skins                    •        .        • 117 

Ruins  of  Samaria 127 

Nineveh 160 

Shekel 208 

Wine-Press 238 

Frontlets 250 

Women  Grinding 268 

Court  of  the  Palace  of  the  High  Priest       ....  300 

Different  Forms  of  Crosses 312 

Ground  Plan  of  Sepulchres       .......  318 


THE 


GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  MATTHEW. 


The  Title.  The  Gospel — The  good  news  of  salvation  by  Jesus  Christ, 
first  as  orally  delivered,  then  as  written.  There  are  not,  strictly  speak- 
ing, four  Gospels.  There  is  but  one,  a  "four-sided  Gospel."  According 
to — Matthew  narrates  the  good  news  after  his  manner,  Mark  after  his. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  Luke  and  John.  Though  all  the  evangelists 
were  inspired  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  therefore  wrote  truthfully,  yet  all 
were  left  free  to  select  such  facts  from  the  life  of  Jesus  as  they  chose,  to 
narrate  the  facts  in  the  order  in  which  they  occurred,  or  not  in  that 
order,  and  to  present  the  facts  in  such  a  style  of  language,  in  such  a  man- 
ner of  thinking,  and  for  such  a  specific  purpose,  as  their  habits  of  educa- 
tion and  their  mental  characteristics  might  naturally  lead  them  to  adopt. 
Matthew  presents  the  Gospel  as  the  fulfilment  of  the  law.  This  is  the 
peculiarity  of  his  view.  In  this  respect  Matthew  resembles  James.  This 
characteristic  of  his  Gospel  accords  with  the  purpose  for  which  it  was 
primarily  written ;  namely,  to  teach  Jewish  converts  that  Jesus  was  the 
Messiah  of  whom  their  Sacred  Scriptures  speak.  This  explains  the  free- 
dom with  which  Matthew  quotes  from  those  writings,  and  explains  also 
his  manifest  desire  to  prove  that  Jesus  was  a  descendant  of  David  and 
Abraham.  It  is  important  to  remember  that  he  does  not  profess  to  relate 
the  events  of  our  Lord's  life  according  to  the  order  of  time. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  book  of  the  generation 
of  Jesus  Christ,  the  son  of 
David,  the  son  of  Abraham. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  GENEALOGY  AND  THE  BIRTH  OF 

JESUS. 

1.    The  hook  of  the  generation — 


2  Abraham  begat  Isaac  ;  and 
Isaac  begat  Jacob  ;  and  Jacob 
begat  Judas  and  his  brethren  ; 

3  And  Judas  begat  Phares 
and  Zara  of  Thamar  :  and  Pha- 


The  roll  of  the  descent,  or,  the  birth- 
roll.  Not  the  entire  book  of  Mat- 
thew is  meant,  but  the  first  seventeen 
verses.  As  it  had  been  foretold  in 
the  Old  Testament  that  the  Messiah 
would  descend  from  Abraham,  and 
15 


16 


MATTHEW. 


res  begat  Esrom  ;   and   Esrom 
begat  Aram  ; 

4  And  Aram  begat  Amin- 
adab  ;  and  Am  in  ad  ab  begat 
Naasson  ;  and  Naasson  begat 
Salmon  ; 

5  An  J.  Salmon  begat  Booz 
of  Rachab ;  and  Booz  begat 
Obed  of  Ruth  ;  and  Obed  begat 
Jesse ; 

6  And  Jesse  begat  David 
the  king  ;  and  David  the  king 
begat  Solomon  of  her  that  had 
been  the  wife  of  Urias  ; 

7  And  Solomon  begat  Ro- 
boam ;  and  Roboam  begat 
Abia  ;  and  Abia  begat  Asa  ; 

8  And  Asa  begat  Josaphat ; 
and  Jos ap hat  begat  Joram  ;  and 
Joram  begat  Ozias ; 

9  And  Ozias  begat  Joatham  ; 


would  be  an  heir  to  the  throne  of 
David,  it  was  necessary  to  prove 
that  Jesus  was  a  legal  heir  to  David's 
throne  and  was  the  seed  of  Abra- 
ham. Jesus  Christ — Jesus  means 
Saviour.  Though  the  name  was 
borne  by  others,  it  was  peculiarly 
appropriate  to  our  Lord,  for (vs  21) 
he  was  to  save  his  people  from  their 
sins.  Christ  means  anointed.  It  is 
equivalent  to  Messiah,  and  this  is 
the  representative  of  the  Hebrew 
word  Mashiah,  which  so  often  oc- 
curs in  the  Old  Testament.  It  is 
there  applied  to  priests  and  to  kings, 
but  it  is  used  with  special  reference 
to  the  great  Deliverer  whom  the 
prophets  taught  the  Jews  to  expect 
both  for  themselves  and  for  the  Gen- 
tiles. Jesus  is  the  proper  name,  and 
Christ  is  the  official  title,  though 
both  came  to  be  used  as  proper 
names.  Both  are  applied  by  our 
Lord  to  himself  in  his  intercessory 
prayer  (John  17:  3).  The  son — 
This  term  was  used  with  much  more 
latitude  by  the  Jews  than  by  us.  In 


and  Joatham  begat  Achaz  ;  and 
Achaz  begat  Ezekias  ; 

10  And  Ezekias  begat  Ma- 
nasses ;  and  Manasses  begat 
Anion ;  and  Araon  begat 
Josias ; 

11  And  Josias  begat  Jecho- 
nias  and  his  brethren,  about 
the  time  they  were  carried  away 
to  Babylon : 

12  And  after  they  were 
brought  to  Babylon,  Jechonias 
begat  Salathiel ;  and  Salathiel 
begat  Zorobabel ; 

13  And  Zorobabel  begat 
Abiud  ;  and  Abiud  begat  Elia- 
kim ;  and  Eliakim  begat  Azor  ; 

14  And  Azor  begat  Sadoc  ; 
and  Sadoc  begat  Achim ;  and 
Achim  begat  Eliud ; 

15  And  Eliucl  begat  Elea- 


some  cases,  as  here,  it  means  de- 
scendant, however  remote.  Bear- 
ing this  in  mind,  we  shall  be  saved 
from  some  serious  mistakes  in  the 
interpretation  of  the  Scriptures. 
Should  the  Jews  accept  as  the  Mes- 
siah of  their  own  Sacred  Writings 
some  man  that  may  hereafter  arise 
claiming  to  be  such,  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  prove  him  to  be  a  de- 
scendant of  Abraham,  and  a  legal 
heir  to  the  throne  of  David ;  for 
they  have  lost  the  genealogical  ta- 
bles by  which  alone  it  could  be 
proved.  Of  David — Had  he  not  the 
right,  then,  to  the  throne  on  which 
Herod  was  sitting  ?  Begarding  the 
question  as  merely  a  national  one, 
it  should  undoubtedly  be  answered 
in  the  affirmative,  but  that  is  not  the 
only  light  in  which  it  should  be  con- 
sidered. The  Messiah  was  not  to 
reign  on  the  throne  of  David  in  the 
usual  sense,  but  in  a  sense  alto- 
gether peculiar. 

12.   Jechonias  begat  Salathiel — In 
Jeremiah  22  :  30  is  a  prophecy  that 


CHAPTER  I. 


17 


zar  ;  and  Eleazar  begat  Mat- 
than  ;  and  Matthan  begat  Ja- 
cob ; 

16  And  Jacob  begat  Joseph 
the  husband  of  Mary,  of  whom 
was  born  Jesus,  who  is  called 
Christ. 

17  So  all    the   generations 


Jechonias  (Coniali)  should  not  have 
a  successor  on  the  throne,  and  Luke 
(3 :  27)  says  that  Salathicl  was  the 
son  of  Neri .  We  accept,  therefore, 
the  suggestion  of  Lord  Hervey  in 
Smith's  Dictionary  of  the  Bihle, 
"that  St.  Matthew  gives  the  succes- 
sion, not  the  strict  birth."  In  other 
words,  Matthew. in  saying  that  Jech- 
onias begat  Salathiel,  does  not  mean 
to  affirm  that  Salathiel  was  literally 
the  son  of  Jechonias,  but  only  that 
Salathiel  (the  son  of  Neri)  was 
Jechonias'  heir  to  the  throne.  Thus 
is  the  discrepancy  between  Jeremiah 
and  Matthew  removed. 

16.  Notice  how  the  evangelist 
arrests  the  order  of  the  genealogy. 
Up  to  this  point  Ave  have  the  natural 
succession.  Now  follows  a  case  ut- 
terly unlike  all  that  have  preceded. 
Matthan  begets  Jacob,  and  Jacob 
begets  Joseph,  but  does  Joseph  be- 
get Jesus  ?  Joseph,  the  husband  of 
Mary  of  whom  was  born  Jesus.  Je- 
sus, then,  had  a  mother,  but  not  a 
father. 

17.  Fourteen  generations,  etc. — 
Forty-two  in  all  r  but  this  seems  to 
contradict  the  Old  Testament.  Ac- 
cording to  that,  the  number  was 
greater.  How  may  the  discrepancy 
be  removed?  It  has  been  shown 
"that  it  was  a  common  practice 
with  the  Jews  to  distribute  geneal- 
ogies into  divisions,  each  containing 
some  favorite  or  mystical  number, 
and  that,  in  order  to  do  this,  gener- 
ations were  cither  repeated  or  left 
out."  Jewish  history  from  Abraham 
to  Jesus  Christ  comprised  three 
great  periods;  the  first  extending 
from  Abraham  to  David,  the  second 

2* 


from  Abraham  to  David  are 
fourteen  generations  ;  and  from 
David  until  the  carrying  away 
into  Babylon  are  fourteen  gen- 
erations ;  and  from  the  carry- 
ing away  into  Babylon  unto 
Christ  are  fourteen  genera- 
tions. 


from  David  to  the  Captivity,  and 
the  third  from  the  Captivity  to 
Christ.  It  is  possible  that  the  clas- 
sification was  intended  as  an  aid  to 
the  memory. 

Observe  that  four  women  are  in- 
cluded in  the  .list.  Thamar  had 
been  guilty  of  incest ;  Bathsheba  of 
adultery.  Neither  Rauhab  nor  Ruth 
was  of  Jewish  extraction.  "Ail 
sorts  of  men:  kings,  heroes,  shep- 
herds, mechanics,  heathens,  sinners, 
prophets,  poets,  sages,  are  among 
the  ancestors  of  Christ,  and  become 
poorer  and  obscurer  as  they  ap- 
proach Christ."  Being  in  the  line 
from  which  the  Messiah  was  to  come 
did  not  necessarily  make  one  right- 
eous ;  nor  was  the  character  of  Je- 
sus in  the  least  defiled  by  the  gross 
depravity  of  some  of  his  ancestors. 
Those  who  take  pride  in  their  an- 
cestry should  remember  this. 

We  prefer  the  view  which  regards 
the  genealogy  of  Matthew  as  in- 
tended to  exhibit  the  legal  succession 
to  the  throne  of  David.  Christ  being 
the  last  in  the  line,  and  Joseph,  his 
reputed  father,  being  his  immediate 
predecessor.  Luke's  genealogy, 
which  is  so  unlike  this,  is  a  record 
of  Joseph's  natural  descent  through 
private  persons,  not  through  kings. 
As  Mary  "was  in  all  probability 
the  daughter  of  Jacob,  and  first 
cousin  to  Joseph,  her  husband," 
Matthew's  genealogy — and  tins  is 
equally  true  of  Luke's — is  "in  point 
of  fact,  though  not  of  form,"  "as 
much  hers  as  her  husband's."  The 
following  pedigree,  condensed  from 
Lord  Hervey's,  gives  both  the  royal 
line  and  the  natural  line  :  — 


18 


MATTHEW. 


Luke. 
Adam. 

Seth. 

Enos,  &c. 

Matthew  and  Luke. 

Abraham. 

Isaac. 

Jacob,  &c. 
David  =  Bathsheba. 

I 


Matthew. 

(Royal  line.) 

Solomon. 

I 

Roboam,  &c. 

Jecbonias  (i.e.  Je- 
boiakim). 

Jechonias  (i.e.  Jeboi- 
acbin),  childless. 


Luke. 

(Natural  line.) 

Nathan. 

Mattatha,  &c- 

Addi. 

Melchi. 

Neri. 

I 


Matthew  and  Luke. 

/Royal  heir  of\  _  Salathiel  _  (Heal  son\ 
y   Jechonias.    j-^lathiel  -{of  NerL  ) 

Zorobabel,  &c. 


Matthew. 
(Royal  line.) 

Eliakim. 

Azor,  &c. 

Eleazar. 


Luke. 
(Natural  line.) 

Joseph. 

Semei. 

Levi. 


Matthew  and  Luke. 
I 


(o>T^S)  =  Matthan  or  Mattbat=  (~) 


Jaoob. 


Deli. 


Matthew  and  Luke. 


„„,,„  {Royal  heir\      Tft-pnll  _  (  Real  son  \ 

Mary    =     {o/JaC0bJ     JoseVh~  {  of  Heli.  J 


Jesus  Christ. 


CHAPTER  I. 


19 


IS '■  *§  Now  the  birth  of  Jesus 
Christ  was  on  this  wise  :  When 
as  his  mother  Mary  was  es- 
poused to  Joseph,  before  they 
came  together,  she  was  found 
with  child  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 


749  TJ.C.l   June,  B.C.  5.2 

18.  On  this  wise — In  the  manner 
about  to  be  narrated.  Was  espoused 
— Engaged  to  be  married.  Before 
they  came  together — Before  they 
began  to  live  together  in  the  same 
house  as  husband  and  wife.  Her 
state  is  the  effect  of  supernatural 
agency.  Thus  facts  did  not  allow 
the  evangelist  to  continue  the  gene- 
alogy in  the  order  of  natural  suc- 
cession. That  God  should  give  a 
sinful  being  to  save  sinful  beings  is 
not  credible.  The  Saviour  of  the 
|  world  must  therefore  be  begotten 
not  by  man,  but  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Let  us  meditate  often  and  reverently 
upon  this  "  single  event  in  the  his- 
tory of  our  race  that  bridges  over 
the  stupendous  chasm  between  God 
and  man."  Considered  with  purity 
of  intention,  no  fact  recorded  in  the 
Bible  has  greater  power  to  bring  the 
soul  near  to  its  Maker.  Mary — 
Enough  that  is  false  has  been  writ- 
ten concerning  the  mother  of  our 
Lord  to  fill  many  a  volume  ;  all  that 
is  known  about  her  can  be  told  in  a 
few  words.  Nothing  is  known  of 
her  early  life.  There  is  nothing  un- 
reasonable in  the  supposition  that 
Jacob  was  her  father,  but  we  know 
absolutely  nothing  concerning  her 
parentage.  The  song  to  which  she 
gave  utterance  in  her  visit  to  Eliza- 
beth proves  that  she  was  remarka- 
bly familiar  with  her  own  Sacred 
Scriptures.  Enough  has  been  given 
us  by  the  evangelists  to  show  that  she* 
was  a  woman  of  great  excellence ; 
but  they  have  not  given  us  the  least 
possible  ground  for  supposing  that 

1  From  the  building  of  Rome. 
53  See  note  on  Chapter  2 :   1,  third  para- 
graph. 


19  Then   Joseph    her    hus- 
band, being  a  just  man,  and 
not  willing  to  make  her  a  pub 
lie  example,  was  minded  to  put 
her  away  privily. 

20  But  while  he  thought  on 


she  was  without  actual  sin,  —  an 
opinion  that  became  very  general 
about  six  hundred  years  ago, — or 
that  she  was  conceived  without  sin 
("  Immaculate  Conception  "),  —  a 
notion  which  originated  a  little  later, 
and  Avas  formally  decreed  in  1854  as 
an  article  of  belief  for  the  entire 
Roman  Catholic  world.  That  Mary 
has  become  an  object  of  worship, 
as  Protestants  insist,  will  not  be 
doubted  by  one  who  is  acquainted 
with  "The  Path  to  Paradise;  or, 
Catholic  Christian's  Manual,"  from 
which  is  taken  the  following :  "Hail ! 
holy  Queen,  Mother  of  mercy,  our 
life,  our  sweetness,  and  our  hope ; 
to  thee  do  we  cry,  poor  banished 
sons  of  Eve ;  to  thee  do  we  send  up 
our  sighs,  moaning  and  weeping  in 
this  valley  of  tears.  Turn,  then, 
most  gracious  advocate,  thy  eyes  of 
mercy  toward  us  ;  and  after  this  our 
exile  ended,  show  unto  us  the  blessed 
fruit  of  thy  womb,  Jesus." 

19.  A  just  man — Not,  as  some 
say,  humane,  but  righteous.  Being 
such  a  man,  he  felt  that  the  connec- 
tion ought  to  be  sundered.  A  pub- 
lic example — Possibly  "  to  bring  the 
case  before  the  local  Sanhedrim." 
Though  he  felt  that  the  relation 
ought  not  to  be  continued,  yet  he 
could  not  decide  to  expose  her  to 
public  punishment,  which,  by  the 
law  of  Moses,  would  have  been 
death  by  stoning,  unless  it  could  be 
shown  that  she  was  not  voluntary 
in  the  act  which  he  believed  her  to 
have  committed.  See  Deut.  22 : 
23-2G.  Was  minded — Inclined.  He 
inclined  to  put  her  away  privately ; 
that  is,  to  give  her  a  bill  of  divorce- 
ment (Deut.  24:  1),  which  would 
be  silent  relative  to  the  cause.  Thus 
Mary,   the  mother  of  the  world's 


20 


MATTHEW. 


these  things,  behold,  the  angel 
of  the  Lord  appeared  unto  him 
in  a  dream,  saying,  Joseph, 
thou  son  of  David,  fear  not 
to  take  unto  thee  Mary  thy 
wife :    for   that  which  is    con- 


Saviour,  lay  for  a  time  under  the 
gravest  suspicion.  To  what  humil- 
iation did  the  Son  of  God  submit ! 
Joseph  is  seen  to  be  both  virtuous 
and  pious.  If  he  misunderstands 
Mary,  if  he  even  believes  her  crimi- 
nal, we  should  consider  that  he  had 
no  means  of  knowing  her  innocence 
except  her  own  denial  of  guilt.  He 
loves  her  still,  and,  therefore,  can- 
not expose  her  to  punishment ;  but 
he  also  loves  the  law  of  God.  Sure- 
ly we  need  not  wonder  that  ' '  the 
situation  of  the  two  betrothed  de- 
scendants of  David,  at  their  first  ap- 
pearance in  history,"  has  been  called 
"  tragical."  Joseph,  her  husband — 
"  It  was  a  maxim  of  the  Jewish  law 
that  betrothal  was  of  equal  force 
with  marriage." 

20.  On  these  things — On  the  many 
points  involved  in  his  relations  to 
Mary, — her  supposed  infidelity,  and 
what  he  ought  to  do  in  consequence. 
His  inclination  must  be  arrested.  He 
would  need  more  than  Mary's  word, 
and  therefore  God  gives  him  more. 
The  angel — An  angel.  The  origi- 
nal meaning  of  this  word  is  messen- 
ger. In  the  Revelation  of  John,  the 
pastors  of  the  seven  churches  of 
Asia  Minor  are  called  angels.  The 
word  generally  denotes  an  order  of 
moral  beings  higher  than  man.  An- 
gels were  employed  during  the  Mo- 
saic dispensation,  and  in  the  earlier 
part  of  the  Christian,  as  God's 
agents  in  accomplishing  his  will. 
They  generally  appeared  to  human 
beings  in  the  form  of  a  man.  Though 
superior  to  men,  they  are  far  in- 
ferior to  the  Son  of  God  (Heb.  1 : 
5-8) .  In  what  they  do  for  those  who 
shall  be  heirs  of  salvation,  they  are 
ministering  spirits ;  that  is,  serv- 
ants.    They  are   swift  in  service, 


ceived  in  her  is  of  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

21  And  she  shall  bring  forth 
a  son,  and  thou  shalt  call  his 
name  JESUS  :  for  he  shall  save 
his  people  from  their  sins. 


like  winds  and  lightning  (Heb.  1 : 
7).  They  have  not  all  been  proof 
against  temptation  (25:  41).  An- 
gels long  since  ceased  to  come  to 
men  in  a  visible  form.  Whether 
they  now  come  in  some  invisible 
manner  is  a  question  concerning 
which  nothing  positive  is  known. 
That  bad  angels  continue  their  in- 
fluence over  men  is  very  clearly 
taught,  1  Peter  5 :  8,  and  many 
other  passages.  How  good  angels 
serve  God  on  behalf  of  his  people  is 
a  subject  on  which  it  is  not  profit- 
able to  speculate.  In  a  dream — 
That  God  used  the  dream,  in  earlier 
times,  as  one  means  of  communi- 
cating his  will,  admits  of  no  doubt ; 
but,  in  accordance  with  the  progres- 
sive nature  of  revelation,  the  dream 
became  less  used  as  the  Christian 
era  was  opening.  Is  conceived — Is 
begotten.  The  Holy  Ghost — See 
note  on  12 :  31,  32.  God's  means 
are  various  :  an  angel  for  Mary ;  a 
dream  for  Joseph.  Thy  wife — In 
Jewish  law,  though  only  betrothed. 
Mary  sees  the  angel ;  Joseph  dreams 
that  he  sees  him.  God's  vindication 
of  Mary's  character  should  encour- 
age those  who  are  unjustly  sus- 
pected. 

21.  Sins — Sin  itself  and  the  pun- 
ishment which  it  deserves.  His 
people — Not  believing  Jews  only, 
which  is  probably  all  that  Joseph 
understood  by  it.  but  all,  in  every 
age,  whom  God  has  purposed  to 
save  through  faith,  whether  Jews  or 
Gentiles.  How  early  and  how  fully 
is  the  object  of  Christ's  advent  re- 
vealed! Let  all  imitate  the  angel 
in  speaking  of  Jesus  to  others.  Let 
Sabbath-school  teachers  keep  in 
sympathy  with  Christ  in  respect  to 
the  object  of  his  advent.    Since  en- 


CHAPTER  I. 


21 


22  Now  all  this  was  done, 
that  it  might  be  fulfilled  winch 
was  spoken  of  the  Lord  b}r  the 
prophet,  saying, 

23  Behold,  a  virgin  shall  be 
with  child,  and  shall  bring 
forth  a  son,  and  they  shall  call 
his  name  Emmanuel,  which 
being  interpreted  is,  God  with 
us. 


tire  sinlessness  is  the  rich  gift  which 
awaits  the  believer  after  death,  with 
what  faith  should  he  expect  the  Sav- 
iour's help  in  the  warfare  of  the 
present  life ! 

22,  23.  The  prophecy  referred  to 
is  in  Isa.  7  :  14.  Does  it  refer  only 
to  the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ ;  or,  on- 
ly to  the  birth  of  some  child  in  the 
time  of  Isaiah;  or,  to  the  birth  of 
both?  What  were  the  circum- 
stances ?  In  the  time  of  Ahaz,  king 
of  Judah,  Jerusalem  was  threatened 
by  the  united  armies  of  Syria  and 
Samaria.  The  prophet  assures  Ahaz 
that  Jerusalem  shall  not  be  cap- 
tured, and  gives  him  a  sign  to  prove 
the  truth  of  his  words.  The  sign 
is  the  birth  of  a  child,  who  will  be 
called  Immanuel.  Before  the  child 
will  be  old  enough  to  refuse  the  evil 
and  choose  the  good,  Jerusalem  will 
be  delivered  from  its  peril.  In  a 
short  time,  seven  hundred  years  be- 
fore the  birth  of  Jesus,  Isaiah's 
wife  becomes  mother  of  a  child,  to 
whom  is  given  the  name  Maher- 
shalal-hashbaz,  which  means,  He 
hasteth  to  the  prey.  The  name  was 
given,  because  the  child,  as  foretold, 
was  a  sign  to  Ahaz  that  the  invasion 
of  Jerusalem  should  fail  of  success. 
Immanuel,  as  importing  substan- 
tially the  same  thing,  was  the  other 
name  of  the  child.  This  seems  to 
be  the  primary  meaning  of  the 
prophecy.  Has  it  any  other  mean- 
ing? Now  all  this  teas  done  that — It 
has  been  shown  that  in  this  case,  and 
in  a  multitude  of  other  similar  cases, 
the  word  that  expresses  intention, 


24  Then  Joseph,  being 
raised  from  sleep,  did  as  the 
angel  of  the  Lord  had  bidden 
him,  and  took  unto  him  his 
wife : 

25  And  knew  her  not  till 
she  had  brought  forth  her  first- 
born son :  and  he  called  his 
name  JESUS. 


not    mere  result.      We   conclude, 
therefore,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  means 
to  teach  us  through  the  evangelist 
that  the  prophecy  has  a  secondary 
reference,  which   is   the   more   im- 
portant and  the  far  grander  of  the 
two.     As  Isaiah's  son  was  a  sign  to 
Ahaz  that  Jerusalem  should  be  de- 
livered from  its  enemies,  so  the  son 
of  Mary  is  a  sign  of  the  great  spir- 
itual  deliverance   which   God  will 
bring  to  men.      ' '  The  application 
of  this  prophecy  to  Christ  is  not  a 
mere  accommodation,  meaning  that 
the  words,  originally  used   in   one 
sense  and  in  reference  to  one  sub- 
ject,  might    now   be    repeated    in 
another  sense  and  of  another  sub- 
ject; for  this  does  not  satisfy  the 
strong  terms   of  the  passage    (all 
this  happened  that  it  might  he  fid- 
filled),  nor  would  such   a  fanciful 
coincidence  have  been  alleged  with 
so  much  emphasis  by  Matthew,  still 
less  by  the  angel.     The  only  sense 
that  can  be  reasonably  put  upon  the 
words  is,  that  the  miraculous  con- 
ception of  Messiah  was  predicted  by 
Isaiah  in  the  words  here  quoted." — 
Alexander.  Immanuel — God  withus. 
25.     The  effort  has  been  made  to 
show,   and    it   has    been   distinctly 
taught    by    the     Roman    Catholic 
Church,  that  this  verse  teaches  the 
perpetual  virginity  of  Mary.     The 
opinion  that  the  mother  of  our  Lord 
may  have   had  other  sons  is  pro- 
nounced in  the  Douay  version  (Ro- 
man Catholic)  as  "  most  impiously 
inferred"  from  these  words.  It  can- 
not indeed  be  conclusively  proved 


?2 


MATTHEW. 


CHAPTER  II. 

NOW  when  Jesus  was  born 
in  Bethlehem  of  Judea,  in 


by  the  word  "first-born,"  that  Mary 
had  other  sons ;  for  it  would  have 
been  in  accordance  with  the  Jewish 
law  to  apply  the  word  to  an  only 
child.  Knew  her  not  till — Not  even 
these  words  prove  it.  Paul  says  (1 
Tim.  4  :  13),  Till  1  come  give  attend- 
ance to  reading,  etc.  Matthew  says 
(12:  20),  A  bruised  reed  shall  he 
not  break,  and  smoking  flax  shall 
he  not  quench,  till  he  send,  etc. 
Paul  does  not  mean  to  intimate  that 
Timothy  may  give  himself  to  read- 
ing only  till  he  come ;  and  we  are 
not  to  infer  that  Christ  will  avoid 
breaking  a  bruised  reed  only  till  he 
has  sent  forth  judgment  iLnto  victory. 
Our  interpretation  of  the  passage 
should  be  independent  of  the  per- 
version of  it  by  Romanists.  On  the 
whole,  the  words  are  not  decisive 
of  the  question  relative  to  the  per- 
petual virginity  of  Mary.  See  more, 
however,  in  the  note  upon  13 :  55, 
concerning  "his  brethren." 

Infant  Baptism. — This  chapter 
teaches  nothing  at  all  concerning 
it.  Yet  it  has  been  said  (Lange) 
that  Anti-Pasdobaptists  overlook  the 
mystery  that  through  Abraham's 
faith  the  blessing  has  descended  in 
his  seed  as  an  heir-loom;  "other- 
wise they  would  see  more  meaning 
in  the  admission  of  infants  into  the 
visible  church."  Error  lurks  in  all 
such  statements.  Through  Abra- 
ham the  blessing  descends  upon  all 
who  have  Abraham's  faith,  and  upon 
no  others.  All  who  die  in  infancy, 
we  have  reason  to  believe,  are  saved ; 
but  as  infants  have  no  faith,  they  are 
not  entitled  to  membership  in  visi- 
ble churches.  Though  the  dogma 
that  infants  are  entitled  to  church- 
membership  has  less  hold  upon  men 
than  formerly,  yet  it  is  still  cher- 
ished by  a  very  large  majority  of 
the  Christian  world.     It  has  had  a 


the  days  of  Herod  the  king, 
behold,  there  came  wise  men 
from  the  east  to  Jerusalem, 


fearful      influence 
Christianity. 


in    corrupting 


CHAPTER  II. 

EVENTS      IMMEDIATELY     FOLLOWING 
THE   BIRTH. 

?5©  U.C.    Feb.,  B.C.  4. 

1.  Bethlehem  of  Judea — Judea 
was  the  southern  of  the  three  prov- 
inces into  which  Palestine  was  di- 
vided. The  name  is  derived  from 
the  name  of  the  tribe  of  Judah.  ' '  It 
embodied  'the  original  territories 
of  the  tribes  of  Judah  and  Benja- 
min, together  with  Dan  and  Simeon ; 
being  almost  the  same  with  the  old 
kingdom  of  Judah,  and  about  one 
hundred  miles  in  length  and  sixty  in 
breadth.'" 

Bethlehem — Bread-house.  The  in- 
fidel Renan  affirms,  as  if  Matthew 
must  have  been  less  informed  than 
himself,  that  Jesus  was  born  in  Gal- 
ilee. There  was  another  Bethlehem 
not  far  from  the  Sea  of  Galilee  (Josh. 
19:  15),  but  the  evangelist  affirms 
that  the  birth  occurred  in  Bethlehem 
of  Judea.  This  was  about  six  miles 
south  of  Jerusalem.  A  small  village 
may  give  birth  to  great  and  good 
men.  Boaz,  David,  and  Jesus  Christ 
were  all  born  in  Bethlehem.  The 
modern  town,  Beit-lahm,  has  about 
three  thousand  inhabitants ;  Thom- 
son says,  "Not  far  from  four  thou- 
sand, and  most  of  them  belong  to  the 
Greek  Church."  The  same  writer 
speaks  of  them  as  a  turbulent  peo- 
ple, and  as  being  "ever  distinguished 
in  the  great  feasts  at  Jerusalem  by 
their  fierce  and  lawless  manners." 
Of  the  cave  which  very  ancient  tra- 
dition has  marked  as  the  place  of 
the  Saviour's  birth,  mention  will  be 
made  in  the  note  on  Luke  2  :  7. 


CHAPTER  II. 


23 


2  Saying,  Where  is  be  that  I  is  born  King  of  the  Jews?  ibr 

the  birth  of  Jesus  occurred,  beyond 
all  question,  at  least  four  years  ear- 
lier than  what  is  called  the  beginning 
of  the  Christian  era.  The  time  of 
reckoning  our  era  is  traceable  to  an 
erroneous  calculation  of  Dionysius, 
a  monk  of  the  sixth  century • 


When  Jesus  was  born — Neither 
the  day,  nor  the  month,  nor  the 
year,  is  certainly  known;  yet  by 
several  distinct  lines  of  reasoning 
the  learned  have  been  able  to  ap- 
proximate the  time.  Little  more 
can  be  done  than  to  indicate  the  re- 


BETHLEHEM. 


suits.  It  is  certain,  according  to 
this  chapter,  that  Jesus  was  born 
before  the  death  of  Herod.  Herod 
died  in  the  year  of  Rome  750,  not 
far  from  the  1st  of  April.  How 
much  before  Herod's  death  Jesus 
was  born,  is  the  point  which  we  have 
not  the  means  of  determining.  This 
may  be  said  with  very  great  proba- 
bility, that  it  must  have  occurred 
between  the  year  of  Rome  747  and 
750.  The  latter  part  of  749  has 
most  to  commend  it.  As  to  the 
month,  January,  April,  June,  May, 
and  December  have  had  their  re- 
spective advocates.  That  Decem- 
ber 25  was  the  day  of  the  birth  is 
incapable  of  being  proved. 
It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that 


Herod  the  king — The  Herodian 
family  was  of  a  foreign  race, — the 
Idumean  or  Edomite,  which  sprung 
from  Esau,  Jacob's  twin  brother. 
The  Herods  had  become  Jews,  how- 
ever, by  adopting  the  Jewish  relig- 
ion, and  were  firm  in  their  attach- 
ment to  it,  though  having  little  of 
its  spiritual  life.  It  seems  to  have 
been  their  desire  to  establish  an  in- 
dependent monarchy,  but  they  never 
succeeded  in  attaining  such  a  degree 
of  power  as  to  be  able  to  throw  off 
subjection  to  Rome.  Herod  the 
Great  had  been  made  king  of  Judea 
by  the  Senate,  Rome  being  then 
mistress  of  Palestine.  How  remark- 
able that  a  descendant  of  Esau 
should  now  be  ruling  over  the  de- 


24 


MATTHEW. 


we  have  seen  his  star  in  the 
east,  and  are  come  to  worship 
him. 

3    When  Herod  the  king  had 

scendants  of  Jacob !  Herod  was  a 
tyrant.  He  was  surpassed  in  cru- 
elty by  few  of  tbe  human  race.  He 
murdered  his  wife,  Mariamne,  Hyr- 
canus  her  grandfather,  and  his  own 
sons,  Alexander,  Aristobulus,  and 
Antipater.  He  burnt  to  death  forty 
Jews,  because,  when  it  was  rumored 
that  he  was  dying,  they  had  torn 
down  a  large  gold  eagle  which  he 
had  set  up  over  the  gate  of  the  tem- 
ple. This  tyrannical  act  occurred 
on  the  night  of  March  12-13,  in  the 


heard  these  things,  he  wa.* 
troubled,  and  all  Jerusalem 
with  him. 

4   And  when  he  had  gath- 


year  of  Rome  750.  On  that  night, 
according  to  Josephus,  there  was  an 
eclipse  of  the  moon,  and  astronomy 
proves  the  statement  correct.  This 
is  a  fact  of  much  value  in  determin- 
ing the  date  of  Herod's  death,  and 
this  date  is  an  important  condition 
in  determining  the  date  of  our  Lord's 
birth.  The  following  is  a  table  of 
so  much  of  the  family  as  is  neces- 
sary to  include  the  Herods  of  the 
New  Testament:  — 


l. 


Herod  the  Great. 
King  of  Judea. 

I  4. 


I 
Aristobulus. 


I 

Archelaus. 

(Matt.  2:  22.) 

Banished. 


I 
Herod  Agrippa  I. 
(Acts  12:  land  20-23.) 
Died  A.  D.  44. 

|8. 


I 

Herod  Agrippa  II. 

The  almost  persuaded. 

(Acts  26 :  28.) 

Died  A.  D.  100. 


I 

Herod  Philip. 

(Luke  3:  1.) 

Died  A.  D.  34. 

7. 


I 

Herod  Antipas. 
(Luke  3:  1.) 

Banished. 


I 

Herodias. 

Mother  of  the  dancer. 

Luke  3:  19;  Matt.  14:  6.) 


Bernice. 
(Acts  25:  13.) 


Drusilla. 
(Acts  24:  24.) 


Wise  men  from  the  east — Eastern 
wise  men.  The  original  word  is 
magoi.  Hence  our  English  words, 
magic  and  magicians.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  tell  whether  they  came  from 
Arabia,  or  from  Mesopotamia,  or, 
which  is  more  probable,  from  Per- 
sia. "Magi  formed  among  the  Per- 
sians and  Medes  a  much-respected 
prie6tly  class  ;  they  employed  them- 


selves especially  with  the  mysteries 
of  nature,  astrology,  and  medicine. 
There  was  also  among  the  Baby- 
lonians (Jer.  39  :  3),  at  the  time  of 
the  Chaldean  dynasty,  such  an  or- 
der, at  the  head  of  which  was  Dan- 
iel. Dan.  2  :  48.  The  name  Magian 
was  then  in  general  transferred  to 
all  without  distinction  of  county, 
commonly  wandering  orientals,  who 


CHAPTER  II. 


27 


«red  all  the  chief  priests  and 
scribes  of  the  people  together, 


had  dedicated  themselves  to  those 
sciences."  Philo,  a  Jew,  "mentions 
Magi  with  warm  praise  as  men  who 
gave  themselves  to  the  study  of  na- 
ture and  the  contemplation  of  the 
divine  perfections."  Many,  how- 
ever, who  "bore  the  general  name  of 
Magi,  were  bad  men — impostors,  de- 
ceivers ;  for  example,  Simon  Magus 
(Acts  8  :  9),  and  Elyinas  the  sorcerer 
(Acts  13  :  8).  By  some  of  the  earlier 
writers  of  the  Christian  church,  it 
was  hastily  judged  that  the  wise 
men  who  went  to  Bethlehem  were 
mere  sorcerers.  We  have  no  rea- 
son to  doubt  that  the  men  were  sin- 
cere seekers  of  truth,  "without  any 
conscious  fraud."  They  were  prob- 
ably Gentiles.  They  came  from 
afar  to  find  the  King  of  the  Jews, 
while  the  Jews  themselves,  living  at 
the  centre  of  the  Jewish  theocracy, 
with  light  shining  upon  them  from 
the  prophecies,  had  not  yet  begun  to 
inquire  whether  such  a  person  has 
made  his  appearance.  It  is  a  very 
saddening  thought  that  one  may  live 
near  the  spot  where  Jesus  is,  yet 
make  no  effort  to  find  him. 

The  number  of  the  wise  men  is 
not  given.  Men  have  shown  their 
desire  to  be  "wise  above  what  is 
written"  by  affirming  that  there 
were  three  ;  that  they  were  kings  ; 
and  that  their  names  were  Gaspar, 
Melchior,  and  Balthazar ;  that  Gas- 
par  presented  the  gold,  Melchior 
the  frankincense,  and  Balthazar  the 
myrrh !  In  the  Greek  Church  is  the 
utterly  baseless  tradition  that  the 
Magi  had  "a  retinue  of  one  thou- 
sand men,  having  left  behind  them, 
on  the  further  bank  of  the  Euphra- 
tes, an  army  of  seven  thousand." 

But  why  did  the  men  associate 
with  the  appearance  of  a  star  the 
idea  that  one  had  been  born  who  was 
destined  to  be  King  of  the  Jews?  1. 
Jews  having  been  dispersed  through 
eastern  countries,  the  Magi  could 
not  have  failed  to  learn  something 


he   demanded  of  them   where 
Christ  should  be  born. 

of  the  expectation  which  they  had 
so  warmly  cherished  relative  to  the 
coming  of  a  great  Deliverer.  2.  It 
is  well  known  that  the  opinion  had 
obtained  great  currency  through 
a  considerable  part  of  the  East, 
that  not  far  from  that  time  some  one 
would  appear  among  the  Jews  who 
would  effect  a  great  change  in  the 
world.  3.  The  Magi  may  have  been 
specially  illuminated  from  heaven ; 
for,  after  they  had  found  the  object 
of  their  search,  they  were  warned 
by  God  in  a  dream  concerning  their 
return.  4.  There  seems  to  be  noth- 
ing unreasonable  in  the  supposition 
that  they  were  acquainted  with  Ba- 
laam's prophecy :  There  shall  come  a 
Star  out  of  Jacob,  and  a  Sceptre  shall 
rise  out  of  Israel,  and  shall  smite  the 
corners  of  Moab,  and  destroy  all 
the  children  of  Sheth.  Num.  24  :  17. 
Jerusalem — Sight  of  peace,  inher- 
itance of  peace,  foundation  of  peace, 
are  the  three  principal  meanings 
which  have  been  given  to  this  word. 
It  is  a  compound,  and  the  uncer- 
tainty pertains  to  the  first  two  sylla- 
bles. It  has  been  supposed  to  be  the 
same  city  as  Salem,  of  which  Mel- 
chizedek  was  king,  but  the  identity 
of  the  two  places  is  not  certain.  It 
stands  in  latitude  31  deg.  46  min.  35 
sec.  north,  which  makes  it  about  as 
near  the  equator  as  the  southern 
towns  of  Mississippi  and  Alabama, 
in  the  United  States.  It  lies  thirty- 
two  miles  east  of  the  Mediterranean 
Sea,  and  eighteen  west  of  the  Jor- 
dan. During  a  long  period,  Jeru- 
salem was  the  religious  centre  of 
the  earth,  and  in  some  later  ages  it 
was  held  to  be  the  physical  centre. 
A  map  of  the  world  of  the  fourteenth 
century  so  represents  it.  The  loca- 
tion of  the  city  gives  it  much  natural 
strength ;  for  it  "occupies  the  south- 
ern termination  of  a  table-land, 
which  is  cut  off  from  the  country 
round  it  on  the  west,  south,  and 
east  sides,  by  ravines  more  than  usu- 


28 


MATTHEW. 


5  And  they  said  unto  him, 
In  Bethlehem  of  Judea :  for 
thus  it  is  written  by  the  prophet, 


ally  deep  and  precipitous."  The 
one  of  these  ravines,  the  eastern,  is 
called  the  Valley  of  Jehosaphat ;  the 
other,  running  first  south  and  then 
east  till  it  meets  the  former,  the 
Valley  of  Hinnom.  ' '  How  sudden  is 
their  descent  may  be  gathered  from 
the  fact,  that  the  level  at  the  point 
of  junction — about  a  mile  and  a 
quarter  from  the  starting-point  of 
each — is  more  than  six  hundred  feet 
below  that  of  the  upper  plateau  from 
which  they  commenced  their  de- 
scent." Between  these  two  valleys 
is  another,  running  nearly  south  till 
it  meets  the  other  two  at  the  point  of 
their  junction,  and  dividing  the  city 
"into  two  unequal  portions."  This  is 
called  the  Valley  of  the  Tyropoeon. 
On  the  western  side  of  the  Tyropoe- 
on is  Mount  Zion;  on  the  eastern 
Mount  Moriah,  on  which  the  temple 
stood.  In  the  time  of  our  Saviour, 
a  stone  bridge  connected  the  east- 
ern side  with  the  western.  The 
bridge  is  described  by  Josephus.  It 
rested  upon  an  arch  now  known  as 
"Robinson's  Arch."  "One  of  the 
most  remarkable  of  the  recent  dis- 
coveries at  Jerusalem  is  the  disin- 
terring of  the  opposite  buttress  or 
pier  of  the  bridge  on  the  western  side 
of  the  valley,  and  of  the  stones  of  the 
pavement  which  formed  the  floor  of 
this  causeway."  Fifty-five  feet  below 
the  surface  has  been  found  "amass 
of  masonry,  constructed  Of  fine  bev- 
elled stones  of  great  size,  and  evi- 
dently remaining  in  their  original 
position."  The  span  of  the  arch  was 
forty-one  feet  six  inches,  and  some 
of  the  stones,  which  "  may  now  be 
seen  in  the  excavated  cavern,"  weigh 
"at  least  twenty  tons."  "  The 
apostles  must  have  very  often  passed 
over  it  while  yet  the  arch  remained 
entire  ;  and  so  also  must  their  Mas- 
ter and  ours  often  have  passed  over 
it  with  them." 


6  And  thou  Bethlehem,  in 
the  land  of  Juda,  art  not  the 
least  among  the  princes  of  Ju- 


The  fortunes  of  Jerusalem  have 
been  more  various,  perhaps,  than 
those  of  any  other  city  in  the  known 
world.  As  a  punishment  to  the 
Jews,  it  was  delivered  into  the 
hands  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  B.  C.  586, 
its  walls  were  razed,  and  its  temple 
was  burnt.  Irt  the  reign  of  Cyrus 
and  of  Darius  the  temple  was  re- 
built, and  in  the  reign  of  Artaxerxes 
the  building  of  the  walls  and  the 
city  was  brought  to  completion.  A 
little  more  than  three  hundred  years 
before  Christ,  the  city  was  taken  by 
Ptolemy  on  the  Sabbath,  when  the 
Jews  were  unwilling  to  fight,  and 
many  of  the  inhabitants  were  carried 
to  Egypt.  It  came  under  the  do- 
minion of  Antiochus  the  Great,  B.  C. 
203,  between  whom  and  the  kings 
of  Egypt  there  were  many  Avars.  It 
suffered  much  at  the  hands  of  Anti- 
ochus Epiphanes,  its  walls  again  be- 
ing razed,  a  statue  of  Jupiter  set  up 
in  the  temple,  and  the  ceremonies  of 
the  Jewish  religion  forbidden.  ' '  Je- 
rusalem was  deserted  by  priests  and 
people,  and  the  daily  sacrifice  of  the 
altar  was  discontinued."  The  Mac- 
cabees, father  and  sons,  succeeded, 
after  the  most  patriotic  and  valorous 
exertions,  in  recovering  the  city  and 
restoring  the  temple-services.  "The 
sacrifices  were  recommenced  ex- 
actly three  years  after  the  temple 
had  been  dedicated  to  Jupiter  Olym- 
pus." In  the  year  63  B.  C,  the 
temple  was  taken  by  the  Roman  gen- 
eral, Pompey,  and  twelve  thousand 
Jews  were  massacred.  The  city  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  Parthians,  B. 
C.  40,  but  was  retaken  by  Herod 
the  Great,  B.  C.  37.  The  temple 
was  rebuilt  by  Herod  on  a  scale  of 
great  splendor.  Jerusalem  was  at 
last  taken  by  Titus,  the.  Roman  gen- 
eral, A.  D.  70.  "For  more  than 
fifty  years  after  its  destruction  by 
Titus,  Jerusalem   disappears  from 


CHAPTER  II. 


29 


history."  It  reappears  in  the  reign 
of  the  Emperor  Hadrian,  but  the  em- 
peror gave  the  new  city  the  name 
of  MUsl  Capitolina.  It  was  not  till 
the  lapse  of  several  hundred  years 


that  the  old  name  came  again  into 
use.  The  city  was  taken  by  the  Per- 
sians A.  D.  614.  It  had  long  been 
inhabited  chiefly  by  Christians.  In 
637  A.  D.  it  fell  into  the  hands  of 


BROOK      krDRON 


PLAN   OF    JERUSALEM. 


the  Arabs,  Saracens  or  eastern  peo- 
ple, under  Khalif  Omar.  It  was 
captured  from  the  Saracens,  A.  D. 
1099,  by  the  Crusaders;  but  the 
Christians  lost  it  in  1187,  it  being 
3* 


retaken  by  Saladin.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  a  brief  period  in  1243,  it 
has  remained  in  the  hands  of  Mu- 
hammedans  to  the  present  day. 
Such  have  been  the  fortunes  of  tho 


CHAPTER  II. 


31 


da  :  for  out  of  thee  shall  come 
a  Governor,  that  shall  rule  my 
people  Israel. 

7   Then  Herod,  when  he  had 


city  to  which  the  wise  men  went  in 
their  search  for  the  new-born  "King 
of  the  Jews." 

2.  His  star  in  the  east — His ;  the 
star  that  speaks  of  him.  In  former 
times  the  star  was  held  by  some  to 
be  a  comet,  by  others  a  meteor, — 
opinions  which  have  nothing  in  their 
favor.  The  common  Christian  mind 
deems  it  to  have  been  a  supernatu- 
ral appearance ;  and  not  till  a  com- 
paratively recent  period  have  bibli- 
cal scholars  been  in  possession  of 
facts  that  even  seemed  to  point  in 
any  other  direction.  The  facts  re- 
ferred to  are  these  :  Distinguished 
astronomers  have  affirmed  that  a 
conjunction  of  the  planets  Jupiter 
and  Saturn  occurred  in  the  year  of 
Rome  747,  May  20,  and  was  repeated 
Oct.  27,  and  Nov.  12.  On  May  20, 
the  Magi,  it  has  been  said,  would 
have  seen  the  stars  in  their  united 
brightness  in  the  east.  If  they  then 
began  their  journey,  and  arrived  in 
Jerusalem  about  Oct.  27,  the  No- 
vember conjunction  would  have  ap- 
peared south  of  Jerusalem;  that  is, 
in  the  direction  of  Bethlehem.  The 
distinguished  English  commenta- 
tor Alford,  Lange,  Nast,  and 
Alexander,  regard  these  facts  as  a 
sufficient  explanation  of  the  inspired 
statement  respecting  the  star.  They 
therefore  reject  the  interpretation 
that  the  appearance  was  miraculous. 
But  since  the  publication  of  their 
Commentaries,  more  light  has  been 
thrown  upon  the  question  by  the 
careful  calculations  of  Rev.  Charles 
Pritchard,  Hon.  Secretary  of  the 
Royal  Astronomical  Society  of  Great 
Britain.  Mr.  Pritchard's  investiga- 
tions, as  he  himself  tells  us  in 
Smith's  Dictionary  of  the  Bible, 
confirmed  the  fact  of  the  conjunc- 
tions in  the  year  B.  C.  7,  though  the 
dates  were  found  to  be   different. 


privily  called  the  wise  men, 
inquired   of   them    diligently 
what  time  the  star  appeared. 
8  And  he  sent  them  to  Beth- 


The  last  of  the  conjunctions  is 
proved  to  have  occurred  not  in  No- 
vember, but  Dec.  4.  Starting  at 
that  time,  the  Magi  "would  first 
see  Jupiter  and  his  dull  and  some- 
what distant  companion  .  .  .  decid- 
edly to  the  east  of  Bethlehem.  By 
the  time  they  came  to  Rachel's  tomb 
the  planets  would  be  due  south  of 
them,  on  the  meridian,  and  no  longer 
over  the  hill  of  Bethlehem.  .  .  The 
planets  would  soon  be  on  their  right 
hands,  and  a  little  behind  them :  the 
star,  therefore,  ceased  altogether  to 
go  before  them  as  a  guide.  Arrived 
on  the  hill  and  in  the  village,  it  be- 
came physically  impossible  for  the 
star  to  stand  over  any  house  what- 
ever close  to  them,  seeing  that  it 
was  now  visible  far  away  beyond  the 
hill  to  the  west,  and  far  off  in  the 
heavens  at  an  altitude  of  57  deg.  As 
they  advanced,  the  star  would  of 
necessity  recede,  and  under  no  cir- 
cumstances could  it  be  said  to  stand 
'over'  any  house,  unless  at  the  dis- 
tance of  miles  from  the  place  where 
they  were.  .  .  .  Thus  the  beautiful 
phantasm  of  Kepler  and  Ideler, 
which  has  fascinated  so  many  wri- 
ters, vanishes  before  the  more  per- 
fect daylight  of  investigation."  The 
result  of  Mr.  Pritchard's  investiga- 
tions is  an  instructive  illustration 
of  the  necessity  of  care  in  the  use 
of  alleged  facts  of  science  by  inter- 
preters of  the  Bible.  The  star  must 
be  regarded  as  miraculous. 

To  worship  him — Not  to  adore 
him  as  a  divine  being,  but,  in  accord- 
ance with  oriental  custom,  to  do  him 
homage. 

3.  Was  troubled — Herod  is  now 
seventy  years  old.  He  is  covered 
with  the  guilt  of  infamous  crimes, 
his  body  is  corrupt  through  vice,  and 
his  temper  is  more  irascible  than 
ever.    He  is  suspected  in  Rome  and 


32 


MATTHEW. 


lehem,  and  said,  Go,  and  search 
diligently  for  the  young  child  ; 


hated  in  Jerusalem.  His  throne  is 
tottering.  Is  it  surprising  that  such 
a  man  trembles  at  the  words.  Where 
is  he  that  is  born  King  of  the  Jews  ? 
The  new  king  is  an  infant,  it  is  true, 
but  a  party  may  soon  gather  around 
him  which  will  make  Herod's  throne 
still  more  insecure.  All  Jerusalem 
— In  fear  of  the  civil  commotions 
that  may  arise  and  of  the  consequent 
outburst  of  Herod's  wrath.  The 
people  have  been  expecting  the.Mes- 
siah,  but  now  that  he  has  come,  they 
are  filled  with  fear.  All  must  not  be 
pressed  too  far.  There  were  a  few 
who  were  waiting  in  such  spiritual- 
ity and  faith  for  the  kingdom  of  God, 
that  they  could  not  have  partici- 
pated in  the  general  alarm.  Even  old 
and  very  profligate  sinners  are  not 
proof  against  fear. 

4.  The  chief  priests  and  scribes 
— This  was  probably  a  meeting,  a 
special  one,  of  the  Sanhedrim,  the 
highest  judicial  body  among  the 
Jews.  The  Sanhedrim  consisted  of 
the  chief  priests,  scribes,  and  eld- 
ers. The  third  class  is  not  here 
mentioned.  The  chief  priests  prob- 
ably included  the  high  priest,  ex- 
high  priests,  and  the  heads  of  the 
twenty -four  courses  into  which  the 
priests  were  divided.  See  1  Chron. 
24 :  3-19.  The  scribes  were  the 
writers  and  interpreters  of  the  law. 
See  a  fuller  description  of  them  in 
the  note  on  5  :  20.  The  number  of 
the  Sanhedrim  is  variously  stated  as 
seventy,  seventy-one,  and  seventy- 
two.  The  last  is  the  least  probable. 
The  Magi  had  asked,  Where?  with 
desire  to  bow  before  him;  Herod 
asks,  Where  f  lest  he  shall  be  com- 
pelled to  bow.  A  question  may 
breathe  life  or  death,  according  to 
the  spirit  from  which  it  comes. 
Should  be  born — That  is,  according 
to  the  Jewish  Scriptures. 

5,  6.  The  decision  of  the  Sanhe- 
drim, which  Avas  reached,  probably, 
without  discussion,  is,  that  the  Mes- 


and  when  ye  have  found  him% 
bring  rne  word  again,  that  I 


siah  is  to  be  born  in  Bethlehem. 
Whether  the  infant  whom  the  Magi 
believe  to  have  appeared  is  the  Mes- 
siah, is  another  question,  but  that 
Bethlehem  is  the  place  where  the 
true  Messiah  is  to  be  born  they  have 
no  doubt ;  for  this  is  what  one  of 
their  own  prophets  has  declared.  In 
its  application  of  the  remarkable 
words  of  Micah  (5  :  2)  to  the  Messi- 
ah, how  much  more  candid  is  even 
this  Sanhedrim  than  later  Jews, 
who,  to  weaken  the  evidence  that 
Jesus  Avas  the  Messiah,  have  denied 
that  the  prophet  intends  to  make 
any  reference  whatever  to  the  ex- 
pected Deliverer. 

The  prophecy  is  not  quoted  with 
verbal  exactness ;  but  there  is  no 
perversion  of  its  meaning.  Micah 
says,  Among  the  thousands  of  Ju- 
dah;  Matthew,  Among  the  princes 
of  Juda, — both  meaning  the  same 
thing.  The  tribes  of  Israel  Avere  di- 
vided into  families,  or  chiliads,  or 
thousands,  each  having  a  prince  or 
governor,  avIio  resided  in  some  cen- 
tral town.  Bethlehem  was  a  small, 
insignificant  village;  In  itself  it 
might  be  considered  as  one  of  the 
least  of  all ;  but  in  fact  thou  Beth- 
lehem art  not  the  least,  for  out  of 
thee  shall  come,  since  in  thee  shall 
be  born,  a  governor  that  shall,  etc. 
Shall  rule—  Shall  feed,  shall  be  a 
shepherd  unto.  My  people  Israel — 
All,  whether  Jews  or  Gentiles,  that 
have  Abraham's  faith.  Hoav  much 
higher  does  Bethlehem  stand  to-day 
than  Jerusalem !  The  theocratic 
metropolis  is  CArer  sinking  more 
deeply  under  the  appalling  crime 
of  attempting  to  crush  out  the  life 
which  Bethlehem  gave  to  the  Avorld. 
Eternal  honor  may  croAvn  what  the 
world  holds  in  contempt.  If  provi- 
dence lead  to  Bethlehem,  Ave  should 
not  be  unwilling  to  turn  the  back 
upon  Jerusalem. 

7.  Privily — Under  the  circum- 
stances, this  shows  the  working  of 


CHAPTER   II. 


33 


may  come   and  worship   hiin 
also. 

9  When  they  had  heard 
the  king,  they  departed  ;  and, 
lo,  the  star,  which  they  saw  in 
the  east,  went  before  them,  till 
it  came  and  stood  over  where 
the  young  child  was. 


a  bad  purpose.  Inquired  diligently 
— Made  accurate  inquiry,  that  he 
might  learn  exactly.  Accurate  in- 
vestigation for  a  good  end  is  a  duty. 
Sharpness  of  intellect  in  a  bad  cause 
cuts  back. 

8.  Worship  him  also — As  in  vs. 
2,  to  do  him  homage.  Hypocrisy, 
which  sought  Jesus  in  Bethlehem, 
rested  not  till  it  brought  him  to  Je- 
rusalem and  nailed  him  to  the  cross. 

9,  10.  Went  before  .  .  and  stood 
over — On  the  false  interpretation  of 
these  expressions  suggested  by  cer- 
tain astronomical  calculations,  see 
note  on  vs.  2.  They  saw  the  star,  for 
they  went  in  the  night,  not  an  un- 
common time  for  journeying  in  the 
East.  When  they  saw  does  not  im- 
ply that  the  star  had  ceased  to  shine, 
and  has  again  become  visible,  though 
such  may  have  been  the  fact.  No- 
tice the  great  strength  of  the  expres- 
sion used  to  indicate  their  joy.  The 
star  leads  to  the  word,  and  the  word 
leads  back  to  the  star.  The  princi- 
pal of  an  academy  was  led  to  the 
word  through  the  study  of  that  won- 
derful fact  in  chemistiy, — Definite 
Proportions.  Imbued  with  love  of 
the  word,  he  applied  himself  with 
fresh  zeal  to  the  study  of  God's 
works.  Sometimes  the  order  is  the 
reverse.  The  word  leads  to  the  star, 
and  the  star  leads  back  to  the  word. 
Many  have  no  interest  in  God's 
works  till  they  have  received  his 
word.  The  star  and  the  word  may 
combine  to  lead  to  Christ. 

11.  The  house  —  According  to 
Luke,  Jesus  was  not  born  in  a  house ; 
but  it  would  appear  that  before  the 
arrival  of  the  Magi  he  had  been  re- 


10  When  they  saw  the  star, 
they  rejoiced  with  exceeding 
great  joy. 

11  %  And  when  they  were 
come  into  the  house,  they  saw 
the  young  child  with  Mary  his 
mother,  and  fell  down  and  wor- 
shipped him :   and  when  they 


moved  to  a  house.  This  is  no  proof 
that  the  family  had  taken  up  its  abode 
in  Bethlehem.  "The  star  always 
rests  over  the  house  where  Christ  is." 
Joseph  is  not  mentioned.  He  may 
have  been  absent;  or,  as  in  the 
omission  of  elders  in  vs.  4,  it  may  be 
regarded  as  a  brief  form  of  state- 
ment. Compare  Luke  2  :  16,  where 
he  is  mentioned  in  connection  with 
Mary  and  the  babe.  Joseph,  how- 
ever, soon  sinks  wholly  out  of  sight, 
while  Mary,  whom  he  had  inclined 
to  put  away  privily,  comes  occa- 
sionally before  us  throughout  the 
Gospel,  though  with  none  of  the 
prominence  given  her  by  Romanists. 
The  King  is  found!  While  the 
learned  doctors  of  the  metropolis 
are  wrapped  in  indifference,  these 
"travel-stained"  Gentiles  are  upon 
their  faces  doing  homage  to  the  son 
of  David,  and,  we  cannot  but  think, 
with  some  clearer  perception  than 
they  first  had,  of  the  spirituality  of 
his  nature,  though  with  none,  proba- 
bly, of  his  deity.  Treasures — Boxes 
or  chests.  Gold — The  first  instal- 
ment of  what  the  Gentiles  will  give 
for  the  advancement  of  Christianity 
in  coming  ages.  Frankincense — "  A 
vegetable  resin,  brittle,  glittering, 
and  of  a  bitter  taste.  It  is  obtained 
by  successive  incisions  in  the  bark 
of  a  tree.  The  Hebrews  imported 
their  frankincense  from  Arabia,  and 
more  particularly  from  Saba.  It  may 
be  that  the  finest  kind  was  always 
procured  from  India.  The  olibanum, 
or  frankincense  used  by  the  Jews  in 
the  temple  services,  is  not  to  be  con- 
founded with  the  frankincense  of 
commerce,  which  is  a  spontaneous 


u 


MATTHEW. 


had  opened  their  treasures, 
they  presented  unto  him  gifts  ; 
gold,  and  frankincense,  and 
myrrh. 

12  And  being  warned  of  God 
in  a  dream  that  they  should 
not  return  to  Herod,  they  de- 
parted into  their  own  country 
another  way. 

13  And  when  they  were  de- 
parted, behold,  the  angel  of 
the  Lord  appeareth  to  Joseph 
in  a  dream,  saying,  Arise,  and 
take  the  young  child  and  his 


exudation  of  the  Norway  spruce  fir, 
and  resembles,  in  its  nature  and 
uses,  the  Burgundy  pitch,  which  is 
obtained  from  the  same  tree." 
Myrrh — Found  in  Arabia  Felix,  and 
exuding  as  "a  white  liquid,  which 
thickens  and  becomes  a  gum,"  from 
"  a  thorny  tree  like  an  acacia."  See 
Isa.  60 :  6 ;— All  they  from  Sheba 
shall  come :  they  shall  bring  gold 
and  incense.  All  the  treasures  of 
the  earth  belong  to  Christ. 

Some  give  money  to  Christianity 
without  bowing  the  knee  to  Christ. 
Some  find  Christ  in  the  word,  but 
give  him  no  worship.  He  that  finds 
Christ  must  worship  him;  he  that 
worships  liim  must  give  him  treas- 
sures. 

12.  Warned — The  warning  must 
have  dispelled  whatever  confidence 
they  had  in  Herod's  sincerity.  The 
way  of  return  through  Jerusalem 
would  doubtless  have  been  the  com- 
monly travelled  route.  The  less 
public  way  should  be  cheerfully 
chosen  if  pointed  out  by  our  divine 
guide.  Another  way — God  has  va- 
rious ways,  in  either  of  which  he 
may  direct  his  people  to  walk. 

13,  14.  Flee— Not  as  in  vs.  20,  go. 
The  case  required  immediate  action. 
The  morning  light  might  bring  ruf- 
fians from  Herod.  Into  Egypt — The 
distance  was  not  great,  not  more 
than    sixty    or    eighty    miles,   but 


mother,  and  flee  into  Egypt, 
and  be  thou  there  until  I  bring 
thee  word  :  for  Herod  will  seek 
the  young  child  to  destroy  him. 

14  When  he  arose,  he  took 
the  young  child  and  his  mother 
by  night,  and  departed  into 
Egypt: 

15  And  was  there  until  the 
death  of  Herod  :  that  it  might 
be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken 
of  the  Lord  by  the  prophet, 
sajang,  Out  of  Egypt  have  I 
called  my  son. 


Egypt  was  beyond  Herod's  jurisdic- 
tion. The  Egyptian  government  was 
tolerant  toward  Jews,  many  of  whom 
lived  there.  "The  paintings  and 
sculptures  of  the  monuments  indi- 
cate a  very  high  degree  of  personal 
safety,  showing  us  that  the  people 
of  all  ranks  commonly  went  un- 
armed, and  without  military  protec- 
tion." When  he  arose — And  he 
arose.  It  is  not  meant  that  he  did 
not  depart  till  the  usual  time  of 
rising.  He  arose  immediately.  He 
started  in  the  night.  Behold  the 
babe  that  has  come  into  the  world  as 
the  light  of  men,  borne  away  in  the 
night  from  the  land  of  the  ancient 
Shekinah  to  heathen  Egypt  for  safe- 
ty!  "  Egypt  the  land  of  tombs,  the 
cradle  of  God's  people." 

15.  Until  the  death  of  Herod — 
Till  about  April  1,  750  of  the  build- 
ing of  Rome.  The  time  of  the  so- 
journ in  Egypt  cannot  be  positively 
determined,  but  the  writer  prefers 
the  supposition  that  it  was  three  or 
four  months.  That  it  might  be — 
Purpose,  not  mere  result.  The 
prophet — Hosea  11 :  1.  The  words 
have  primary  reference  to  the  call 
of  Israel  out  of  Egypt  by  Moses ; 
secondary,  to  the  call  of  God's  only 
begotten  Son  out  of  Egypt.  Such 
an  application  to  Jesus  of  the  words 
of  the  Old  Testament  is  sanctioned 
by  the    Holy   Spirit.      It  cannot, 


CHAPTER  II. 


35 


16  f  Then  Herod,  when  he 
saw  that  he  was  mocked  of  the 
wise  men,was  exceeding  wroth, 
and  sent  forth,  and  slew  all  the 
children  that  were  in  Bethle- 
hem, and  in  all  the  coasts  there- 
of, from  two  years  old  and  un- 
der, accord  ins:  to  the  time  which 


therefore,  be  a  misapplication.  The 
Old  Testament  is  full  of  Christ; 
hence  the  wonderful  unity  of  the 
Old  and  the  New. 

16.  Mocked — Matthew  is  not  here 
attributing  a  bad  spirit  to  the  Magi, 
but  is  stating,  in  part,  the  spirit  at- 
tributed to  them  by  the  king,  and, 
in  part,  the  tyrant's  writhing  under 
the  disappointment  of  his  plans. 
Herod  feels  mortified  and  incensed, 
for  he  knows  that  he  has  been  out- 
witted. Children — Only  the  males, 
for  the  original  word  is  in  the  mas- 
culine gender.  From  tivo  years  old 
and  under — The  Magi  could  not 
have  arrived  immediately  after  the 
birth,  but  we  need  not  infer  that  it 
was  just  two  years  since  the  star 
first  appeared.  Resolved  to  secure 
at  all  hazards  the  destruction  of  the 
child,  Herod  would  be  likely  to  give 
the  executioners  a  wide  margin. 

The  events  recorded  in  this  nar- 
rative have  been  regarded  by  infidels 
and  sceptics  as  entirely  improbable. 
It  has  been  especially  objected  that 
the  massacre  has  not  been  reported 
by  Josephus.  But  Josephus,  if  he 
had  ever  heard  of  it,  would  not  have 
regarded  the  massacre  of  so  small  a 
number  of  infants — the  number  must 
have  been  small  in  so  small  a  vil- 
lage— as  demanding  notice  amid  the 
great  number  of  terrible  crimes  of 
which  Herod  had  been  guilty.  As  to 
the  improbability  that  so  atrocious 
an  act  could  have  been  ordered,  it  is 
sufficient  to  remark  that  it  sinks  in- 
to insignificance  when  considered  by 
the  side  of  a  crime  which  the  mon- 
ster planned  almost  in  the  act  of 
dying.     Causing  all  the  principal 


he  had  diligently  inquired  of 
the  wise  men. 

17  Then  was  fulfilled  that 
which  was  spoken  by  Jeremy 
the  prophet,  saying, 

18  In  Rama  there  was  a 
voice  heard,  lamentation,  and 
weeping,  and  great  mourning, 


men  of  Jerusalem  to  be  shut  up  in 
the  Hippodrome,  he  requested  his 
sister  Salome  and  her  husband  to 
give  orders  to  put  them  to  death  im- 
mediately after  his  decease,  that  he 
might  have  "the  honor  of  a  memo- 
rable mourning."  His  character  had 
been  so  hateful  to  the  Jews  that  he 
feared  they  would  give  him  no  "such 
mourning  as  men  usually  expect  at 
a  king's  death." — Josephus. 

It  has  been  affirmed  that  sin  must 
lose  its  power  as  life  advances.  This 
is  confuted  by  the  case  of  Herod. 
The  death  of  the  infants  of  Bethle- 
hem sent  sorrow  through  the  little 
village  and  its  borders ;  the  death 
of  the  infant  Jesus  would  have  made 
everlasting  the  sorrows  of  a  world. 
In  attempting  to  save  one's  crown, 
one  may  crown  himself  with  infamy. 

17,  18.  Jeremy  the  prophet — 31: 
15.  The  words  allude  to  the  cap- 
tives which  were  carried  to  Babylon 
by  Nebuzaradan  over  the  road  that 
passed  by  Ramah.  Rachel,  the  wife 
of  Jacob,  was  buried  near  Bethle- 
hem, and  is  represented  by  the 
prophet  as  rising  from  her  grave  to 
mourn  over  the  fate  of  her  descend- 
ants. Matthew  applies  the  prophecy 
to  the  slaughter  of  the  infants  in 
Bethlehem.  Rachel,  regarded  by 
the  evangelist  as  "a  type  of  the 
mothers  in  Bethlehem,"  is  repre- 
sented as  again  rising  from  her 
tomb  and  weeping  over  the  death 
of  the  infants.  Notice  the  analogy 
between  the  events  that  took  place 
under  Nebuzaradan  and  those  that 
occurred  under  Herod.  "It  is 
through  the  evangelists  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  has  afforded  us  a  true  insight 


36 


MATTHEW. 


Eachel  weeping  for  her  chil- 
dren, and  would  not  be  com- 
forted, because  the}'  are  not. 

19  %  But  when  Herod  was 
dead,  behold,  an  angel  of  the 
Lord  appeareth  in  a  dream  to 
Joseph  in  Egypt, 

20  Saying,  Arise,  and  take 
the  3'oung  child  and  his  mother, 


into  the  inner  meaning  of  the  proph- 
ets, who  were  the  historians  of  the 
elder  dispensation,  as  in  the  epistles 
he  has  set  forth  the  antitypes  of  the 
ancient  law.  That  is  surely  a  mea- 
gre theology  and  unscholar-like  crit- 
icism which  finds  nothing  more  than 
a  fanciful  adaptation  in  the  Scrip- 
tures quoted  in  the  opening  chapter 
of  St.  Matthew."—  Westcott.  Ram  ah 
— It  was  situated  about  six  miles 
north  of  Jerusalem,  within  the  limits 
of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin.  It  has  been 
thought  by  some,  unnecessarily,  that 
there  must  have  been  a  Raman  on  the 
southern  side,  nearer  to  RacheVs  sep- 
ulchre.   Dr.  Robinson  has  identified 


KACHELS    TOMB. 

the  Ramah  of  Matthew  with  the  mod- 
ern village  Er-ram.  Rachel  was  the 
daughter  of  Laban.  She  became  the 
wife  of  Jacob.  She  died  not  far  from 
Bethlehem  in  giving  birth  to  a  son, 
who  received  from  her  while  she  was 
dying  the  name  Ben-oni,  meaning 
son  of  my  sorrow.  The  name  was 
changed  by  the  father  to  Benjamin, 


and  go  into  the  land  of  Israel : 
for  they  are  dead  which  sought 
the  young  child's  life. 

21  And  he  arose,  and  took 
the  young  child  and  his  moth- 
er, and  came  into  the  land  of 
Israel. 

22  But  when  he  heard  that 
Archelaus  did  reign  in  Judea 


the  meaning  of  which  is  doubtful. 
It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  site 
of  Rachel's  tomb  "has  never  been 
questioned."  It  is  about  five  miles 
south  of  Jerusalem,  and  one-half 
mile  north  of  Bethlehem. 

20.  Into  the  land  of  Israel — He 
is  not  told  to  what  town  he  should 
go,  but  the  child  must  not  be  trained 
in  Egypt  for  his  great  life-work.  His 
youth  must  be  spent  where  its  per- 
fect purity  shall  be  better  known  by 
his  countrymen.  He  must  go  to  his 
own,  though  it  is  certain  that  his 
own  will  not  receive  him.  Would 
God  there  were  none  now  living 
who  seek  Jesus  to  destroy  him ! 
Theodore  Parker  declares  that 
Christianity  is  but  one  religion 
among  many,  and,  like  Buddhism 
and  Muhammedanism,  is  destined  to 
perish.  Rationalism  would  do  what 
Herod  was  prevented  from  doing. 

21.  He  arose,  and  took — Joseph, 
who,  as  Lange  says,  is  "the  model 
of  all  foster-fathers."  One  reason 
why  the  Messiah  was  not  born  of  a 
virgin  unmarried  and  tt?ibetrothed 
may  have  been,  that  the  infant  and 
the  mother  needed  that  peculiarly 
watchful  and  delicate  protection,  in 
the  persecution  and  flight,  which 
they  could  receive  from  a  husband 
and  foster-father. 

22.  Archelaus — See  genealogical 
table  in  note  upon  vs.  1.  At  the 
death  of  his  father,  Archelaus  re- 
ceived one  half  of  the  kingdom,  con- 
sisting of  Idumea,  Judea,  Samaria, 
and  the  cities  on  the  coast.  Bid 
reign — According  to  his  father's 
will  he  was  king,  and  for  a  time  he 


CHAPTER  II. 


37 


in  the  room  of  his  father  Her- 
od, he  was  afraid  to  go  thither  : 
notwithstanding,  being  warned 


was  popularly  so  regarded,  but  the 
Emperor  of  Rome,  Augustus,  never 
sanctioned  the  title.  He  ruled  un- 
der the  title  of  ethnarch,  which, 
strictly  speaking,  meant  ruler  of  a 
nation,  but  the  word  was  used  indefi- 
nitely for  ruler  of  part  of  a  nation. 
Like  his  father,  he  was  tyrannical ; 
and,  the  Jews  complaining,  he  was 
banished  to  Vienne,  in  Gaul.  His 
tyranny  made  Joseph  afraid  to  go 
to  Judea.  Notwithstanding  does 
not  truly  represent  the  original. 
And  is  the  true  rendering.  It  seems 
to  have  been  Joseph's  intention  to 
dwell  in  Bethlehem  or  Jerusalem. 
The  capital  or  its  vicinity  might 
seem  to  him  and  Mary  to  yield  bet- 
ter advantages  for  educating  the 
child  in  the  knowledge  of  God.  The 
divine  warning  points,  however,  to 
Galilee,  now  governed  by  Herod 
Antipas,  who  had  become  tetrarch 
of  Galilee  and  Perea.  Antipas  was 
not  so  much  ' '  milder  "  than  Arche- 
laus  as  to  create  any  special  en- 
couragement that  on  that  ground 
Galilee  would  be  a  place  of  greater 
safety  than  Judea.  ' '  He  was  un- 
scrupulous (Luke  3  :  19),  tyrannical 
(Luke  13  :  3),  and  weak  (Matt.  14  : 
9)."  Galilee — Palestine  was  di- 
vided into  Galilee,  Samaria,  and  Ju- 
dea. Galilee  consisted  of  Upper  Gal- 
ilee and  Lower  Galilee.  "  It  is  a  re- 
markable fact  that  the  first  three 
Gospels  are  chiefly  taken  up  with 
our  Lord's  ministrations  in  this 
province,  while  the  Gospel  of  John 
dwells  more  upon  those  in  Judea.  .  . 
The  apostles  were  all  Galileans  by 
either  birth  or  residence  (Acts  1 : 
11)."  Not  all  bad  fathers  have  bad 
sons ;  not  all  good  fathers  have  good 
sons.  Ahaz  was  a  bad  man ;  Heze- 
kiah,  his  son,  was  a  good  man ;  Ma- 
nasseh,  Hezekiah's  son,  was  a  bad 
man.  A  bad  man,  however,  will 
far  more  probably  have  a  bad  son, 


of  God  in  a  dream,  he  turned 

aside  into  the  parts  of  Galilee  : 

23    And  he  came  and  dwelt 


if  he  have  any  at  all,  and  a  good 
man  will  be  much  more  likely  to 
have  a  good  son.  The  phrase,  "chil- 
dren of  the  covenant,"  is  often  used 
with  too  great  latitude.  Properly 
speaking,  "children  of  the  cove- 
nant" are  those,  and  only  those,  who 
have  faith.  The  salvation  of  infants 
through  the  atonement  is  wholly  an- 
other subject.  The  doctrine  that 
there  is  any  spiritual  connection  be- 
tween believers  and  their  infants  is 
not  found  in  the  Bible.  All  who 
have  Abraham's  faith  are  Abraham's 
children.  Unbelieving  children  can- 
not be  children  of  the  covenant. 

23.  Nazareth — This  had  been 
the  home  of  Joseph  and  Mary  be- 
fore the  birth  of  Jesus ;  for  Luke 
(2 :  39)  says,  They  returned  into 
Galilee,  to  their  own  city,  Nazareth. 
The  "  city,"  which  was  nothing  but 
a  little  village,  stood  in  a  "green 
basin  of  table-land."  "Fifteen 
gently  rounded  hills  '  seem  as  if 
they  had  met  to  form  an  enclosure ' 
for  this  peaceful  basin, — '  they  rise 
round  it  like  the  edge  of  a  shell  to 
guard  it  from  intrusion.  It  is  a  rich 
and  beautiful  field,  in  the  midst  of 
these  green  hills, — abounding  in  gay 
flowers,  in  fig-trees,  small  gardens, 
hedges  of  the  prickly  pear ;  and  the 
dense  rich  grass  affords  an  abundant 
pasture.  The  village  stands  on  the 
steep  slope  of  the  south-western  side 
of  the  valley;  its  chief  object,  the 
great  Franciscan  Convent  of  the  An- 
nunciation, with  its  white  campanile 
and  brown  enclosure."  The  prospect 
from  one  of  the  neighboring  hills  is 
pronounced  by  Dr.  Hackett  as  "un- 
questionably one  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful and  sublime  spectacles  which 
earth  has  to  show."  Nazareth  was 
so  situated  as  to  be  "hidden  from 
view  till  you  look  down  upon  it 
from  the  adjacent  heights."  It  was 
a  place  in  itself  of  no  importance, 


38 


MATTHEW. 


in  a  city  called  Nazareth  :  that 
it  might  be  fulfilled  which  was 


and  was  little  known  beyond  its  im- 
mediate vicinity.     In  this  secluded 


spoken   by  the   prophets,   He 
shall  be  called  a  Nazarene. 


and    obscure  village,   Jesus   spent 
nearly  all  his  life  before  entering 


NAZAKETH. 


upon  his  public  work.  Residence 
there  rather  than  in  or  near  Jeru- 
salem was  most  in  accordance  with 
the  great  end  in  view. 

He  shall  be  called  a  Nazarene — 
These  words  are  not  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, though  Matthew  says  that 
they  were  spoken  by  the  prophets. 
Several  of  the  solutions  proposed 
are  unsatisfactory.  Prof.  Day,  of 
Yale  College,  in  Smith's  Diction- 
ary of  the  Bible,  prefers  the  expla- 
nation that  the  Messiah  is  described, 
in  Isa.  11:1,  as  a  Netzer  (that  is,  a 
shoot,  sprout,  of  Jesse),  "the  proper 
Hebrew  name  of  Nazareth."  Thus 
the  Messiah  was  represented  as  "a 
humble,  despised  descendant  of  the 
decayed  royal  family."  Another  ex- 
planation is  this  :  In  many  places  of 
the  Old  Testament  th e  Messiah  is  rep- 
resented as  despised.  Nazareth  was 
despised  not  only  by  inhabitants  of 
Judea,  but  by  many  in  Galilee  itself 


where  it  was  located ;  and  therefore 
calling  Jesus  a  Nazaren  e  was  equiva- 
lent to  calling  him  despised.  "Which 
explanation,  if  cither,  is  the  correct 
one,  the  writer  is  unable  to  say. 

In  concluding  our  examination  of 
this  introductory  part  of  the  Gospel, 
consider  the  remarkable  words  in 
Isa.  53 :  2 :  For  he  shall  grow  up 
before  him  as  a  tender  plant,  and 
as  a  root  out  of  a  dry  ground:  he 
hath  no  form  nor  comeliness ;  and 
when  Ave  shall  see  him  there  is  no 
beauty  that  we  should  desire  him. 
Jesus,  the  son  of  Mary,  answers  to 
this  description.  His  mother  and 
his  reputed  father  held  an  ordinary 
position  in  Jewish  society,  while 
from  the  whole  line  had  passed  away 
all  of  royalty  but  the  name.  lie  is 
despised  and  rejected  of  men,  says 
the  same  prophet.  How  true  was 
this  of  Jesus  even  in  his  infancy ! 


CHAPTER  III. 


39 


CHAPTER  III. 

IN  those  days  came  John  the 
Baptist,  preaching    in   the 
wilderness  of  Judea, 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  BAPTISM  OF  JESUS  BY  JOHN  THE 
BAPTIST. 

7SO  U.C.    Jan.,  A..D.  »?, 

1.  In  those  days — In  the  latter 
part  of  Jesus'  residence  in  Naza- 
reth. John  may  have  preached  a 
few  months  before  he  began  to  bap- 
tize. Came — Publicly  appeared. 
He  was  in  the  deserts  till  the  day  of 
his  shewing  unto  Israel.  Luke  1 : 
80.  John  was  the  son  of  Zacharias 
and  Elisabeth.  His  father  was  a 
priest,  and  his  mother  was  of  the 
daughters  of  Aaron.  His  coming 
to  herald  the  Messiah  was  foretold 
centuries  before.  Isa.  11:3.  He 
was  remarkable  for  the  spirituality 
of  his  character  and  for  the  pungen- 
cy of  his  appeals.  He  will  ever  be 
regarded  as  among  the  foremost  men 
of  our  race.  The  Baptist — Some, 
as  Dr.  Conant,  regard  this  as  a  sur- 
name ;  others,  as  descriptive.  The 
nature  of  the  act  which  led  to  its 
application  to  John  is  considered  in 
the  notes  on  28  :  19. 

Was  John  the  first  baptizer  ?  Was 
this  a  new  rite  ?  or,  had  it  been  ad- 
ministered before  ?  It  has  been  af- 
firmed that  when  a  heathen  became 
a  proselyte  to  Judaism,  he  was  ini- 
tiated into  the  new  faith  by  baptism. 
That  we  have  no  direct  proof  ,  how- 
ever, that  proselyte  baptism  was 
practised  till  many  years  after  the 
death  of  John,  is  now  generally  con- 
ceded. Whether  even  "a  baptism" 
was  practised  before  John  is  not  by 
any  means  certain,  though  the  bap- 
tism of  things,  as  cups,  and  pots,  and 
brazen  vessels  (Mark  7:4),  would 
naturally  suggest  the  baptism  of  sin- 
ners when  they  had  been  brought  to 


2  And  saying,  Repent  ye : 
for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is 
at  hand. 

3  For  this  is  he  that  was 
spoken  of  by  the  prophet  Esai- 


repentance  by  such  a  reformer  as 
John.  Was  John's  baptism  Chris- 
tian baptism  ?  Was  John  himself  of 
the  old  dispensation,  or  of  the  new  ? 
He  was  neither  wholly  of  the  one, 
nor  wholly  of  the  other.  The  light, 
the  life,  the  power  of  the  old  the- 
ocracy culminated  in  the  son  of 
Zacharias  and  Elisabeth,  crowning 
him,  though  the  last,  yet  the  best, 
of  the  prophets.  John  was  not  re- 
garded by  our  Lord  as  a  member  of 
the  new  dispensation.  Luke  7  :  28. 
Had  his  life  not  been  prematurely 
cut  off,  he  would  have  come  at  last 
wholly  into  the  Messiah's  kingdom, 
but  only  as  a  private  man.  In  his 
official  character,  he  stood  between 
the  two  dispensations.  Erom  Acts 
18  :  25  and  19 :  1-5,  it  must  be  in- 
ferred that  there  was  some  distinc- 
tion between  John's  baptism  and  that 
of  Christ's  disciples.  John's  bap- 
tism, then,  maybe  considered  as  not 
Christian  in  the  sense  that  it  was  not 
baptism  into  the  acknowledgment 
of  Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  but  only  of 
the  Messiah  as  foretold,  the  persons 
baptized  not  being  aware  that  Jesus 
himself  was  the  Messiah.  If.  how- 
ever, any  choose  to  take  the*  oppo- 
site view,  they  need  not  be  alarmed 
at  the  curse  of  the  Council  of  Trent, 
as  quoted  by  Dr.  Hackett  in  his 
Commentary  on  the  Acts:  "If 
any  shall  say  that  the  baptism  of 
John  and  the  baptism  of  Christ  are 
identical,  let  him  be  accursed." 

In  the  wilderness — Not  a  region 
of  forests,  nor  a  sandy  desert.  A 
region  was  called  a  wilderness  if  it 
was  thinly  inhabited  and  consisted 
of  pasturage  instead  of  tillage.  The 
wilderness  of  Judea  lay  between  Je- 
rusalem and  the  Jordan,  and  along 
the  western  side  of  the  Dead  Sea. 
Preached — Not    in  the  methodical 


40 


MATTHEW. 


as,  saj'ing,  The  voice  of  one 


style  of  later  times.  What  he 
preached  is  infinitely  more  impor- 
tant than  how  he  preached. 

2.  Repent — The  Greek  word,  even 
in  classic  authors,  expresses  not  mere 
reformation  of  conduct,  but  an  in- 
ward change,  a  change  of  views  and 
feelings,  including  sorrow  for  wrong 
done.  Here,  and  almost  everywhere 
in  the  New  Testament,  it  means  sor- 
row for  sin  committed  against  God, 
with  consequent  change  of  life.  It 
was  not  upon  the  subject  of  repent- 
ance that  John  preached,  leaving 
one  to  apply  it  to  one's  self  or  not  as 
one  chose, — the  favorite  method  of 
some  preachers, — but  repenting  as 
a  duty  that  moment  binding  upon 
all  present.  The  Douay  or  Roman 
Catholic  version  says,  Do  penance ; 
and  a  foot-note  explains  this  as 
meaning  not  only  "repentance  and 
amendment  of  life,  but  also  punish- 
ing past  sins  by  fasting  and  such 
like  penitential  exercises," — a  fear- 
ful perversion  of  the  word  of  God.  It 
has  been  said  that  John's  conception 
of  repentance  fell  short  of  that  which 
was  afterwards  entertained  by  the 
disciples  of  Jesus  ;  but,  in  the  words 
of  Dr.  Lange,  "His  idea  of  repent- 
ance exceeded  the  outward  require- 
ments  of  the  Mosaic  law  as  much  as 
his  rite  of  immersion  that  of  sprink- 
ling." 

Fon  the  kingdom,  etc. — The  rea- 
son why  the  people  should  immedi- 
ately repent.  Kingdom  of  heaven 
— The  same  as  kingdom  of  God;  as 
in  the  parable  of  the  prodigal  son 
(Luke  15  :  21),  I  have  sinned  against 
heaven,  is  the  same  as,  I  have  sinned 
against  God.  The  conception  of  a 
kingdom  of  God  is  traceable  to  the 
times  of  Daniel  (Dan.  2  :  44)  and 
of  Jeremiah  (Jer.  23  :  5).  But  the 
conception  was  to  be  more  fully  re- 
alized in  the  times  of  the  Messiah. 
Then  the  kingdom  was  to  embrace 
not  Jews  only,  but  Jews  and  Gen- 
tiles, and  it  was  to  consist  of  these 
not  as  nations,  not  as  states,  not  as 


crying  in  the  wilderness,  Pre- 


state  churches,  but  as  persons  re- 
generated by  the  Holy  Spirit.  This 
is  the  true  ideal  of  the  kingdom,  but 
it  has  not  even  yet  been  fully  real- 
ized. Hence  we  must  still  pray, 
Let  thy  kingdom  come.  Many  re- 
gard kingdom  of  God  and  church  as 
identical.  See  upon  this  important 
point  16 :  18,  19.  Notice  the  word 
church  in  vs.  18  and  kingdom  in  vs. 
19.  But  the  kingdom  of  God  may 
be  viewed  as  (1.)  External;  (2.) 
Internal;  (3.)  Beginning;  (4.)  Ad- 
vancing; (5.)  Completed.  The  sec- 
ond cannot  be  affirmed  of  the  church, 
and  therefore  church  and  kingdom 
are  not  always  and  strictly  the  same. 
Jesus  also  preached,  Repent,  for  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand.  Matt. 
4  :  17.  If  the  forerunner,  without 
the  example  of  Jesus,  preached  as 
Jesus  did,  those  who  come  after  are 
doubly  criminal  if  they  preach  oth- 
erwise. Sabbath-school  teacher, 
fail  not  to  preach  to  your  pupils  as 
John  and  Jesus  preached. 

3.  For  this  is  he — The  reason, 
given  by  the  evangelist,  not  by  John, 
why  the  Baptist  has  appeared.  It 
had  been  foretold,  Isa.  40  : 3.  Barnes 
says  that  the  language  was  spoken 
at  first  with  reference  to  the  return 
from  the  captivity  at  Babjdon ;  but 
there  is  no  evidence  of  this.  As 
eastern  kings  were  accustomed  to 
be  preceded  by  a  company  that 
should  prepare  the  way  for  them, 
levelling  hills,  raising  low  places, 
making  rough  places  smooth,  so  the 
Messiah  is  represented  as  having  the 
way  prepared  for  him  by  one  run- 
ning before  him,  proclaiming  that 
he  is  coming,  and  bidding  the  peo- 
ple prepare  by  penitence  to  receive 
him.  But  why  not  have  sent  the 
Messiah  without  such  heralding? 
Such  a  question  differs  not  at  all  from 
one  that  may  be  asked  concerning 
the  entire  Mosaic  dispensation.  As 
the  entire  Jewish  economy  was 
the  necessary  heralding  of  the  entire 
Messianic  kingdom  for  the  purpose 


CHAPTER  III. 


41 


pare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord, 
make  his  paths  straight. 

4  And  the  same  John  had 
his  raiment  of  camel's  hair,  and 
a  leathern  girdle  about  his 
loins  ;  and  his  meat  was  locusts 
and  wild  honey. 


of  discipline,  it  was  necessary,  as  the 
heralding  was  drawing  to  a  close, 
that  it  should  be  concentrated  and 
intensified  in  a  single  voice  for  the 
purpose  of  arousing  greater  atten- 
tion. It  was  the  adaptation  of  infi- 
nite wisdom  to  the  wants  of  the 
human  mind,  and  innumerable  anal- 
ogies are  found  under  the  divine 
government.  God  is  continually 
preparing  men  for  greater  events  by 
less  events.  Some  hear  the  herald's 
voice,  but  not  him  of  whom  it  speaks. 
Eew  of  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees 
that  heard  the  voice  of  John  gave 
attention  to  the  voice  of  Jesus. 
Some,  hearing  not  the  herald's  voice, 
are  terrified  when  the  chief  voice 
speaks. 

4.  Of  camel's  hair — Not  of  the 
skin  of  the  camel,  as  some  have 
said,  but  of  the  coarser  hair.  The 
finer  hair  was  made  into  garments 
for  the  wealthy.  Leathern  girdle 
— In  the  East,  the  girdle  is  neces- 
sary because  the  people  dress  in 
loose,  flowing  garments.  But  they 
are  also  used  by  some  for  ornament. 
Some  wore  girdles  "of  linen,  em- 
broidered with  silk,  and  sometimes 
with  gold  and  silver  thread,  and 
frequently  studded  with  gold  and 
precious  stones  or  pearls."  The 
poorer  people  wore  leathern  girdles. 
A  girdle  of  silk  and  gold  would  not 
have  been  in  harmony  with  John's 
character  or  with  the  object  of  his 
mission.  Meat — The  meaning  of 
this  word  has  changed.  The  origi- 
nal means  food.  Locusts — This  word 
came  from  two  Latin  words,  locus 
(place),  and  ustus  (burnt).  Lo- 
custs- are  so  destructive  that  they 
make  fields  look  as  if  burnt  over. 
They    prevail    in    Arabia,   Egypt, 


5  %  Then  went  out  to  him 
Jerusalem,  and  all  Judea,  and 
all  the  region  round  about  Jor- 
dan, 

6  And  were  baptized  of  him 
in  Jordan,  confessing  their 
sins. 


Mesopotamia,  and  Persia.  "Their 
numbers  are  so  incredible  that  riv- 
ers have  been  blocked  and  many 
square  miles  covered  by  them,  the 
stench  of  their  decaying  bodies  in- 
fecting the  air  for  hundreds  of 
miles."  Armies  have  been  stopped 
in  their  course  by  locusts.  Arabs 
say  that  it  is  written  "  in  good  Ara- 
bic on  their  wings  that  they  are 
God's  avengers."  It  was  formerly 
asserted  by  some  that  the  locusts 
which  John  ate  were  not  insects,  but 
the  long,  sweet  pods  of  the  locust- 
tree,  "St.  John's  Bread.'"  But  the 
Mosaic  law  (Lev.  11 :  22)  permitted 
locusts  as  an  article  of  food.  They 
are  used  for  food  at  the  present  time, 
"the  legs  and  wings  being  pulled 
off,  the  bodies  fried  in  oil,  and  are 
considered  a  delicacy;  they  are 
sometimes  dried  in  the  sun,  pounded 
up,  and  used  as  a  flour  for  making 
bread.  In  many  towns  in  Arabia 
there  are  shops  where  locusts  are 
sold  by  measure."  Wild  honey — 
Not,  as  some  say,  honey  which  ex- 
uded from  trees,  but  that  which  was 
made  by  wild,  unhived  bees,  and 
stored  in  the  crevices  of  rocks  and 
in  trees.  Elijah  is  described  (2 
Kings  1 :  8)  as  a  hairy  man,  and  girt 
with  a  girdle  of  leather  about  his 
loins. 

5,  G.  All — Great  multitudes.  So 
many  went  out  from  Jerusalem  that 
the  city  might  be  considered  as  al- 
most emptied  of  its  inhabitants. 
Jordan — In  the  original  it  is  every- 
where preceded  by  the  definite  arti- 
cle, and  it  ought  to  be  preceded  by 
it  in  an  English  translation.  The 
Jordan  means  the  river  itself,  which 
would  be  a  very  needless  statement, 
were  it  not  that  Dr.  Whedon  (Meth- 


42 


MATTHEW. 


7  %  But  when  he  saw  many 
of  the  Pharisees  and  Sacldu- 
cees  come  to  his  baptism,  he 


odist),  in  his  Commentary  on  Mat- 
thew, makes  the  unscholarly  re- 
mark that  a  person  could  be  in  the 
Jordan  on  dry  ground !  How  ?  By 
standing  within  the  limits  of  the 
first  terrace,  to  which  the  river  may 
sometimes  overflow !  The  Jordan 
is  the  only  considerable  river  in 
Palestine.  The  name  means  De- 
scender, the  appropriateness  of 
which  appears  from  the  fact  that, 
' '  from  its  fountain-heads  to  the  point 
where  it  is  lost  to  nature,  it  rushes 
down  one  continuous  inclined  plane, 
only  broken  by  a  series  of  rapids  or 
precipitous  falls.  Between  the  Lake 
of  Tiberias  and^the  Dead  Sea,  Lieu- 
tenant Lynch  passed  down  twenty- 
seven  rapids  which  he  calls  threat- 
ening; besides  a  great  many  more 
of  lesser  magnitude."  The  river  is 
also  remarkable  for  its  sinuosity, 
often  winding  eastward  and  west- 
ward through  a  valley  which  is  five 
or  six  miles  broad.  It  has  three  or 
four  fords,  but  in  most  of  its  course 
between  the  Sea  of  Tiberias  and  the 
Dead  Sea  it  is  several  feet  deep. 
Lieutenant  Lynch,  of  the  American 
Exploring  Expedition,  found  the 
water,  even  where  two  travellers 
(Irby  and  Mangles)  forded  it  on 
horseback,  "between  five  and  six 
feet  deep."  Dr.  Shaw  calculates 
the  average  breadth  at  thirty  yards, 
and  the  depth  at  nine  feet.  Such  is 
the  river  on  the  banks  of  which  we 
find  John  and  the  multitudes. 

Baptized  of — Immersed  by.  That 
this  is  the  meaning  of  the  Greek 
word  see  proof  in  the  notes  on  28  : 
19.  That  the  word  means  to  sprin- 
kle, no  man  of  any  pretensions  to 
acquaintance  with  the  literature  of 
the  Greek  language  would  now  af- 
firm. 

The  spiritual  import  of  baptism  is 
well  stated  by  Lange,  though  he  is 
not  a  Baptist.      "Immersion,"  he 


said  unto  them,  O  generation 
of  vipers,  who  hath  warned  you 
to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come  ? 


says,  "was  the  usual  mode  of  bap- 
tism and  the  symbol  of  repentance. 
.  .  .  We  must  keep  in  view  the  idea 
of  a  symbolical  descent  into  the 
grave,  or  the  death  of  sin,  although 
this  view,  as  explained  in  Rom.  6, 
could  not  yet  have  been  fully  realized 
at  the  time."  "Baptism  implies  a 
descent  into  the  depths,  1.  Of  self- 
knowledge;  2.  Of  repentance;  3. 
Of  renunciation  of  the  world;  4. 
Of  self-surrender  to  the  grace  of  the 
Lord."  Confessing  their  sins — The 
condition  upon  the  fulfilment  of 
which  they  were  baptized.  No  con- 
fession no  baptism,  was  John's  prin- 
ciple. 

7.  Pharisees  and  Sadducees — 
These,  with  the  Essenes,  constituted 
the  three  principal  religious  parties 
among  the  Jews.  The  Pharisees 
held  that,  in  addition  to  the  written 
law,  there  was  an  unwritten,  an 
oral,  law  delivered  to  Moses  on 
Sinai,  and  by  him  delivered  to 
Joshua,  by  Joshua  to  the  elders,  by 
the  elders  to  the  prophets,  and  by 
the  prophets  to  the  men  of  the  Great 
Synagogue.  This  oral  law  and  their 
explanations  were  regarded  as  of 
equal  authority  with  the  written  law. 
It  is  to  these  that  our  Lord  so  often 
referred  as  traditions.  The  most 
terrible  denunciations  that  ever  fell 
from  his  lips  were  directed  against 
the  Pharisees  on  account  of  .these 
perversions  of  the  law  of  God.  The 
orthodox  Jews  of  our  own  times 
hold  the  same  view.  Besides  the 
undisputed  traditions,  were  many 
others  which  were  not  believed  to  be 
direct  revelations  from  God,  but 
were  nevertheless  regarded  as  pe- 
culiarly sacred.  Upon  this  class  of 
traditions  the  Pharisees  themselves 
were  divided  into  opposite  schools, 
— the  school  of  Hillel  and  the  school 
of  Shammai.  Phariseeism  was  a 
system  of  intense  self-righteousness 


CHAPTER  III. 


43 


8  Bring  forth  therefore  fruits 
meet  for  repentance : 


The  Sadducees  taunted  the  Phari- 
sees with  desiring  to  purify  the  sun 
itself. 

It  will  be  seen  that  likening  Uni- 
tarianism  to  Phariseeism,  as  is  done 
by  a  certain  class  of  preachers,  re- 
sults from  a  misconception.  The 
two  systems  may  resemble  each 
other  in  that  they  attribute  to  men 
a  righteousness  which  has  no  foun- 
dation in  fact ;  but  in  most  respects 
they  are  unlike.  Phariseeism  is 
reproduced  in  modern  ritualism, 
which  Unitarianism  has  generally 
held  in  contempt ;  and  this  is  seen 
in  the  intensest  form  in  Romanism. 
It  is  now  (1869)  the  greatest  danger 
to  which  the  evangelical  churches 
of  the  United  States  are  exposed. 

Sadducees — They  were  so  called, 
probably,  either  from  a  man  named 
Zadok,  or  from  a  Hebrew  word 
meaning  righteous.  They  were  the 
opponents  of  the  Pharisees,  a.  They 
denied  that  God  gave  to  Moses  any 
other  than  the  written  law.  b.  They 
denied  the  resurrection  and  the  ex- 
istence of  angel  and  spirit.  Acts  23  : 
8.  c.  They  laid  great  stress  upon 
the  freedom  of  the  will,  while  the 
Pharisees  gave  more  prominence  to 
the  doctrine  of  providence,  d.  It 
was  formerly  held  that  they  received 
only  the  five  books  of  Moses ;  but 
this' opinion  is  now  rejected,  e.  The 
Sadducees,  as  a  religious  body,  dis- 
appear from  history  after  the  first 
century.  Should  modern  rational- 
ism, including  the  later  type  of  Uni- 
tarianism and  Universalism,  claim 
consanguinity  with  Sadduceeism,  we 
need  not  scruple  to  admit  the  claim. 
The  Pharisees  were  more  popular ; 
the  Sadducees  the  more  intellectual. 

The  Essenes  are  not  mentioned  in 
the  Scriptures,  but  as  a  sect  seem- 
ing to  hold  a  position  midway  be- 
tween the  other  two  parties,  some 
knowledge  of  it  should  be  sought  by 
students  of  the  Bible.  The  origin 
of  the  name  is  doubtful.      "As  a 


9  And  think  not  to  say  with- 
in yourselves,  We  have  Abra- 


sect  they  were  distinguished  by  an 
aspiration  after  ideal  purity  rather 
than  by  any  special  code  of  doc- 
trines. .  .  .  From  the  cities  they 
retired  to  the  wilderness  to  realize 
the  conceptions  of  religion  which 
they  had  formed,  but  still  on  the 
whole  they  remained  true  to  their 
ancient  faith."  Those  who  entered 
into  full  membership  bound  them- 
selves by  an  oath  "to  observe  piety, 
justice,  obedience,  honesty,  and 
secrecy."  Their  doctrines  were 
substantially  like  those  of  the  Phar- 
isees. Marriage,  except  in  a  few 
cases,  was  abjured.  Property  was 
held  in  common.  They  observed 
the  Sabbath  with  great  strictness. 
They  aimed  at  the  highest  degree 
of  spirituality,  but  missed  the  mark. 
They  answer  to  the  mystics  of  later 
times.  Christianity  creates  a  style 
of  character  containing  elements  not 
found  in  the  Pharisee,  or  the  Sad- 
ducee,  or  the  Essene,  and  marking  it 
as  divine. 

To  his  baptism — Not  to  see  others 
baptized,  but  to  be  baptized  them- 
selves. Generation — Brood.  Vi- 
pers— It  expresses  the  poisonous, 
deceptive,  destructive  influence  of 
the  men.  Who  hath  warned  you — 
He  suspects  their  motives.  He  can- 
not believe  that  they  have  yet  been 
made  to  acknowledge  their  expo- 
sure. The  wrath  to  come — God's 
anger,  not  merely  in  such  national 
destruction  as  the  prophets  of  old 
were  accustomed  to  denounce,  but 
the  punishments  of  the  future  life. 
Threatened  wrath  should  be 
preached,  whatever  the  intellectual 
culture  of  the  hearers. 

8.  Fruits  meet  for  repentance 
are  works  of  such  a  nature  as  to 
prove  that  one  has  repented.  Here 
is  none  of  the  spirit  of  legality. 
Paul  uses  words  conveying  exactly 
the  same  sentiment: — That  they 
should  repent  and  turn  to  God.  °-n«* 
do  works  meet  for  repentance     *  «;t> 


44 


MATTHEW. 


ham  to  our  father:  for  I  say 
unto  you,  that  God  is  able  of 
these  stones  to  raise  up  chil- 
dren unto  Abraham. 

10   And  now  also  the  axe  is 
laid  unto  the  root  of  the  trees  : 


26  :  20.  Paul  was  far  enough  from 
teaching  that  works  are  a  ground  of 
justification.  But  John,  standing 
in  the  twilight  of  Christianity,  and 
Paul  standing  in  the  light  of  its  full- 
orbed  splendor,  alike  taught  the  ne- 
cessity of  evincing  the  genuineness 
of  our  repentance  by  bringing  forth 
the  fruits  of  holiness. 

9.  Think  not  to  say — Do  not 
even  think  of  saying.  That  thought, 
Abraham  is  our  father,  we  are  in  the 
covenant,  we  therefore  need  no  re- 
pentance, was  their  imaginary  life, 
their  real  death.  These  stones — Not, 
as  some  say,  the  Gentiles,  but  the 
stones  on  the  ground.  John  does 
not  say  that  God  will  do  it,  but  he 
says  that  he  can.  God  made  Adam 
out  of  the  dust  of  the  earth.  Of 
course  he  can  raise  up  children  to 
Abraham  out  of  stones.  "Children 
of  the  church "  is  an  ambiguous 
phrase  that  may  work  much  mis- 
chief in  the  heart  of  a  child.  Pious 
parentage  can  avail  nothing  by  it- 
self. 

10.  The  axe  is  laid  unto — Not, 
lies  at  or  near  the  tree  ready  to  be 
taken  up,  but  is  laid  to,  implying  an 
impending  stroke.  Commentators, 
however,  are  not  entirely  agreed 
which  is  the  meaning.  The  nation 
of  Israel  had  passed  through  many 
crises,  but  through  none  like  this. 
It  is  now  on  the  verge  of  final  ruin, 
and  will  perish  unless  it  repent.  As 
individuals,  too,  they  have  reached 
a  crisis  surpassing  all  that  have  pre- 
ceded. Is  hewn  down — Observe  that 
the  verbs  are  in  the  present. 
Henceforth  this  is  to  be  God's 
method  of  dealing  with  men.  If  it 
has  always  been  his  method,  yet  it 
is  now  far  more  distinctly  and  sol- 
emnly made  known.  Men  are  here- 


therefore  every  tree  which 
bringeth  not  forth  good  fruit 
is  hewn  down,  and  cast  into 
the  fire. 

Ill  indeed  baptize  yon  with 
water  unto  repentance  :  but  he 


after  to  understand  that  for  the  im- 
penitent there  is  no  possible  escape 
from  punishment.  Fire  stands  for 
punishment  as  certainly  as  trees 
stand  for  men.  Compare  the  words 
of  Jesus  himself;  7  :  19.  The  ques- 
tion of  future  punishment  is  consid- 
ered in  the  note  on  25  :  46. 

11.  With  water — In  water.  With 
the  Holy  Ghost — In  the  Holy  Ghost. 
The  Greek  preposition  is  en.  That 
the  meaning  is  here  in  is  held  by 
the  following  eminent  Biblical  schol- 
ars, not  one  of  whom  is  in  de- 
nominational relations  with  those 
who  practise  immersion  :  — Lange : 
"I  indeed  baptize  you  in  (en)  wa- 
ter (immersing  you  in  the  element 
of  water)."  "He  shall  baptize,  or 
immerse,  you  in  the  Holy  Ghost." 
Dr.  Nast :  "Literally  in  (en)  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  fire."  Alexander : 
' '  He  shall  baptize  in  holy  spirit  or 
(the)  Holy  Spirit."  Dr.  George 
Campbell :  "In  water  ...  in  the 
Holy  Spirit."  Bengel:  "In."  Douay 
version  (Catholic)  :  "I  indeed  bap- 
tize you  in  water.  .  .  .  he  shall 
baptize  you  in  the  Holy  Ghost." 
"  So  it  was  rendered,"  says  Dr.  Co- 
nant,  "in  the  versions  of  Wiclif, 
Tyndale,  Matthews  (so  called),  the 
Bishops',  and  in  the  llhemish  ver- 
sion. The  Genevan  has  '  with  wa- 
ter,'  which  was  followed  by  King 
James'  revisers,  though  the  Bishops' 
Bible  had  given  the  correct  render- 
ing, 'in  water.'"  Notice  vs.  6.  Bap- 
tized of  him  in  Jordan.  There,  of 
course,  nearly  all  the  commentators 
feel  compelled  to  admit  the  idea  of 
locality,  for  to  say  Baptized  with 
the  Jordan  is  simplicity  indeed.  Dr. 
John  J.  Owen,  perceiving  the  "in- 
congruity" of  translating  "with  the 
Jordan,"  adopts  the  "  circumlocu- 


CHAPTER   III. 


45 


that  cometh  after  me  is  migh- 
tier than  I,  whose  shoes  I  am 
not  worthy  to  bear :  he  shall 


tion,"  llwith  ivater  from  Jordan ," 
— a  rendering  which  Dr.  Campbell 
long  ago  condemned,  with  noble  and 
scholarly  candor,  as  a  glaring  devi- 
ation from  the  text. 

Unto  repentance — Not,  I  baptize 
you  for  the  purpose  of  leading  you 
to   repentance ;    for   he   refused  to 
baptize  many  of  the  Pharisees  and 
Sadducees    because    they  had  not 
repented.     Nor   is   any  distinction 
implied  between  baptism  unto  re- 
pentance and  baptism  unto  regen- 
eration.   John,  it  is  true,  gave  more 
prominence  to  what  man  ought  to 
do  than  to  what  God  does  ;  but  this 
is  not  proof  that  he  had  no  concep- 
tion of  the  new  birth.     The  repent- 
ance which  John  required  presup- 
posed regeneration.    Whence,  then, 
the  contrast  between  John  and  the 
Messiah?     John  was  characterized 
for  calling  men  to  baptism  on  a  pro- 
fession of  repentance  ;  the  Messiah's 
reign  was  to  be  characterized  for  the 
baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit.     l¥ith 
the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire — Not, 
some  of  you  in  the  Holy  Ghost  and 
some  of  you  in  fire,  that  is,  regener- 
ating some   and  punishing  others. 
With  before  fire  was  unfortunately 
supplied  by  the  translators.      The 
Holy  Ghost  and  fire  ought  to  have 
been  the  rendering.   But  this  makes 
the  connection  between  Holy  Ghost 
and  fire  so  close  that  it  is  difficult 
to  consider  the  one  as  referring  to 
the  righteous  and  the  other  to  the 
wicked.      That  fire  is  used  in  the 
next  verse  and  elsewhere  for  pun- 
ishment is  not  conclusive.  See  Acts 
2  :  3,  4.    John  does  not  mean  to  say 
that  the  very  persons  whom  he  had 
baptized  in  water  unto  repentance 
Jesus  would  baptize   in  the   Holy 
Spirit  and  fire ;  but  you  is  used  in  a 
general  sense.     He  means  to  say 
that  while  he  has  baptized  people  in 
water,  etc.,  Jesus  will  baptize  peo- 
ple in  the  Holy  Spirit  and  fire.     As 


baptize    yon   with    the   Holy 
Ghost,  and  with  fire  : 

12  Whose  fan  is  in  his  hand, 


remarked  above,  this  will  be  the 
characteristic  of  the  Messiah.  Fire 
— The  purifying,  dross-consuming 
influence  of  the  Spirit.  Mightier — 
Superior  in  rank,  office,  and  work. 
So  impressive  was  John's  view  of 
the  superiority  of  Jesus  that  he  puts 
himself  lower  than  a  slave ;  for  a 
slave  would  not  have  been  deemed 
unworthy  to  bear  his  master's  shoes. 


SANDALS. 

Shoes — Sandals.  Something  worn 
under  the  feet,  as  the  original  means. 
In  Palestine  they  were  little  else 
than  a  sole  of  leather,  felt,  cloth,  or 
wood,  bound  to  the  bottom  of  the 
foot  by  thongs  or  straps.  Humility 
and  boldness  in  proclaiming  unwel- 
come truths,  are  not  opposite  quali- 
ties. The  former  is  a  check  upon 
the  latter. 

12.  The  thought  expressed  in  vs. 
10,  that  they  have  now  arrived  at  a 
crisis,  a  judgment,  is  here  expressed 
in  a  different  and  equally  solemn 
manner,  but  with  the  additional 
thought  that  some  will  successfully 
pass  the  crisis.  The  representations 
of  the  Scriptures  (Isa.  30 :  24 ;  Jer. 
4:11)  relative  to  the  ancient  pro- 
cess of  separating  the  chaff  from  the 
wheat  have  been  strikingly  con- 
firmed   by  discoveries    in    Egypt. 


46 


MATTHEW. 


and  he  will  thoroughly  purge 
his  floor,  and  gather  his  wheat 
into  the  garner ;  but  he  will 
burn  up  the  chaff  with  un- 
quenchable fire. 

13    f   Then   cometh    Jesus 
from    Galilee    to  Jordan    un- 


Monuments  and  tombs  have  re- 
vealed the  entire  process  of  plough- 
ing, sowing,  reaping,  threshing,  and 
winnowing.  The  grain  was  tossed 
up  in  the  wind  with  shovels  or  with 
fans, — "their  precise  difference  is 
very   doubtful."      Purge — Cleanse. 


WINNOWING. 

Floor — A  plot  of  open,  hard  ground. 
Garner — The  place  for  storing  the 
grain.  The  fan  in  the  hand  corre- 
sponds with  the  axe  laid  to  the  root 
of  the  trees.  Unquenchable  fire — 
Punishment  in  the  next  world.  See 
note  on  future  punishment ;  25  :  46. 
Fan,  the  truth  as  preached  by  Je- 
sus Christ ;  the  floor,  at  first  Pales- 
tine, eventually  the  whole  world; 
the  wheat,  believers  ;  the  chaff,  un- 
believers ;  the  garner,  protecting 
providences,  the  church,  but  espe- 
cially heaven ;  the  final  winnowing 
time,  the  last  judgment,  but  the 
process  is  continually,  though  im- 
perceptibly, going  on  in  this  life. 
Every  Christian  congregation,  Sun- 
day school,  and  family  is  a  thresh- 
ing-floor. The  minister,  the  teacher, 
the  parent,  are  Christ's  agents  in 
winnowing. 


to  John,   to    be   baptized  of 

him. 

14  But  John  forbade  him, 
saying,  I  have  need  to  be  bap- 
tized of  thee,  and  comest  thou 
to  me? 

15  And   Jesus,  answering, 


13.  Cometh  to  .  .  .  Jordan — John 
(1 :  28)  says  that  the  baptism  took 
place  in  Bethabara  beyond  Jordan. 
This  was  the  Bethany  that  was  lo- 
cated on  the  east  side  of  the  river, 
nearly  opposite  Jericho. 

14-.  John  forbade  him — Aimed  to 
prevent,  and  was  beginning  to  pre- 
vent him.  I  have  need — Conscious 
of  sin,  and,  by  the  revealing  power 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  perceiving  the 
superiority  of  Jesus'  character,  he 
could  see  no  propriety  in  doing  the 
act  requested.  His  knowledge  of 
the  Saviour  was  not,  probably,  the 
result  of  personal  acquaintance ;  for 
John  had  lived  in  obscurity  in  one 
part  of  Palestine,  and  Jesus  in  ob- 
scurity in  another  part  (John  1 :  31). 

15.  Suffer  it  now — Just  now.  It 
implies  not  only  time,  but  allusion  to 
present  circumstances.  Suffer  it 
under  existing  conditions  as  known 
to  me.  To  fulfil  all  righteousness — 
Not,  to  fulfil  every  precept  (this 
was  a  rite  which  the  law  did  not  re- 
quire), but  to  do  the  will  of  God  in 
this  particular,  though  this  is  too 
general.  "  Whatever,"  says  Dr. 
Conant,  ' '  may  be  the  full  depth  of 
meaning  in  this  language  of  our 
Lord,  so  much  as  this  at  least  we 
are  to  understand  by  it,  that  had  he 
omitted  this  act  of  obedience,  he 
would  have  left  incomplete  that  per- 
fect righteousness  which  in  our  na- 
ture he  has  wrought  out.  If  aught 
that  it  became  him  to  fulfil  had  been 
left  unfulfilled,  something  essential 
would  have  been  wanting." 

Observe  that  Jesus  was  willing  to 
submit  to  a  rite  which  had  just  been 
administered  to  penitent  sinners. 
Ought  penitent  sinners,  then,  in 
later  times,  however  high  in  culture 


CHAPTER  IV. 


47 


said  unto  him,  Suffer  it  to  be  so 
now :  for  thus  it  becometh  us 
to  fulfil  all  righteousness.  Then 
he  suffered  him. 

16  And  Jesus,  when  he  was 
baptized,  went  up  straightway 
out  of  the  water  :  and,  lo,  the 
heavens  were  opened  unto  him, 
and  he  saw  the  Spirit  of  God 
descending  like  a  dove,  and 
lighting  upon  him: 


and  social  position,  to  shrink  from 
a  rite  to  which  the  holy  Redeemer 
submitted  ?  Jesus  sought  baptism ; 
so  should  all  do  who  believe  in  him. 
Jesus  was  buried  in  the  waters  of 
baptism,  so  afterwards  in  suffering ; 
in  both  cases  as  if  sinful. 

16.  Went  up  out  of  the  water — 
Here,  strangely  enough,  the  trans- 
lators have  given  a  rendering  which 
is  more  in  harmony  with  the  views 
of  Baptists  than  the  original  war- 
rants. The  preposition  is  not  ek 
(out  of),  but  apo  (from).  The  act 
was  immersion  (see  proof  in  the 
note  on  28:  19),  and  the  next  act 
after  the  immersion  might  be,  in  the 
conception  of  one  writer,  a  going  up 
out  of  the  water,  and  in  the  concep- 
tion of  another,  a  going  away  from 
the  water.  In  Acts  8  :  39  the  writer 
fastened  upon  the  act  which  imme- 
diately followed  the  baptism,  and 
therefore  used  the  other  Greek  prep- 
osition, ek  (out  of)  :  And  when  they 
[Philip  and  the  eunuch]  were  come 
up  out  of  the  water.  Jesus,  how- 
ever, was  not  less  certainly  im- 
mersed than  the  eunuch,  but  Mat- 
thew conceives  of  the  next  act  as  a 
going  from  the  water.  Ellicott,  an 
Episcopalian,  says  in  his  Life  of 
Christ,  "The  Forerunner  descends 
with  his  Redeemer  into  the  rapid 
waters  of  the  now  sacred  river." 
Alford,  also  an  Episcopalian,  and  a 
scholar  of  great  distinction,  says, 
"  The  moment  that  Jesus  was  gone 
up  out  of  the  water,  behold,"  etc. ; 


17  And,  lo,  a  voice  from 
heaven,  saying,  This  is  my8  be- 
loved Son,  in  whom  I  am  well 
pleased. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THEN  was  Jesus  led  up  of 
the  Spirit  into  the  wilder- 
ness, to  be  tempted  of  the 
devil. 


showing  that  he  does  not  regard  the 
use  of  the  Greek  preposition  apo 
(from)  in  this  verse  as  adapted  to 
awaken  any  doubt  concerning  the 
question  whether  Jesus  went  down 
into  the  water  and  was  immersed. 
Alexander's  remark  here  is  singu- 
lar, "that  even  if  John  did  sub- 
merge, in  this  and  other  cases,  this 
was  no  more  essential  to  the  rite 
than  nudity."  Were  opened  unto 
him — Unto  Jesus;  not,  perhaps,  to 
the  others,  John  excepted.  John  1 : 
32.  Like  a  dove — In  the  form  of  a 
dove.  See  Luke  3  :  22 ;  In  bodily 
shape.  Concerning  the  characteris- 
tics of  the  dove,  see  note  on  10 :  16. 
17.  My  beloved  Son — It  is  impos- 
sible to  reproduce,  neatly,  in  our 
language,  the  peculiarly  expressive 
words  of  the  original.  Two  articles 
are  used,  the  one  before  Son,  the 
other  before  beloved,  thus :  The 
Son  of  me,  the  beloved ;  or,  The  Son, 
the  beloved,  of  me.  God  has  many 
sons ;  but  concerning  the  sense  in 
which  Jesus  was  the  Son  of  God, 
see  note  on  16 :  16.  The  material 
heavens  seemed  to  open.  Heaven 
itself  opened,  after  his  resurrection, 
to  receive  him,  and  therefore  heaven 
has  been  opened  to  receive  all  God's 
adopted  sons.  The  emblem  of  the 
Spirit  may  be  on  the  head,  but  the 
Spirit  himself  may  not  be  in  the 
heart.  The  church-edifice  may  be 
ornamented  with  the  dove,  but  the 
Spirit  of  God  may  long  ago  have  fled 
from  the  church. 


48 


MATTHEW. 


2  And  when  he  had  fasted 
forty" days  and  forty  nights,  he 
was  afterward  a  hungered. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

JESUS    TEMPTED  ;     BEGINS    KIS    MIN- 
n  ISTRY. 

ISO  U.C.    Jan.,  A.I>.  37. 

1.  Then — Immediately  after  his 
baptism;  or,  as  Trench  suggests,  it 
may  "rather  denote  the  divine  or- 
der in  which  the  events  of  the  Sav- 
iour's life  followed  one  another,  and 
is  intended  to  call  our  attention  to 
this."  First  came  "  baptism  with  " 
[in]"  water  *nd  the  Holy  Ghost,  then 
baptism  with"  [in]  "the  fire  of  temp- 
tation." Led  up—  From  the  valley 
of  the  Jordan.  Of  the  Spirit— Lake 
(4  :  1)  represents  Jesus  as  being  full 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  when  he  returned 
from  the  Jordan.  The  Spirit,  then, 
was  no  other  than  the  third  in  the 
Trinity.  "  He  was  led  by  the  good 
Spirit  to  be  tempted  of  the  evil." 
Into  the  wilderness — Barnes  directs 
us  back  to  3:  1;  but  it  was  "a 
wilder  region  than  that ; "  for  (Mark 
1 :  13)  he  was  with  the  wild  beasts. 
The  precise  locality  is  unknown, 
though  tradition  assigns  it  to  a  moun- 
tain a  little  west  of  Jericho  called 
Quarantana,  in  allusion  to  our  Lord's 
forty  days  of  fasting.  "The  aspect 
of  the  whole  region,"  says  Dr.  Olin, 
"is  peculiarly  savage  and  dreary." 
Dr.  Robinson  computes  the  moun- 
tain as  twelve  hundred  or  fifteen 
hundred  feet  in  height.  Thomson 
says  :  ' '  The  side  facing  the  plain  is 
as  perpendicular,  and  apparently  as 
high,  as  the  rock  of  Gibraltar." 
There  is  no  special  reason  to  doubt 
that  in  this  case  tradition  is  correct. 
To  be  tempted — Not  merely  to  be 
put  to  the  test  as  Abraham,  when  re- 
quired to  put  his  only  son  to  death, 
but  to  be  solicited  to  evil.  But  how 
could  Jesus  be  solicited  to  evil  ?  If 
he  had  the  least  movement  of  desire 
toward  the  objects  which  Satan  pre- 


3  And  when  the  tempter 
came  to  him,  he  said,  If  thou 
be  the  Son  of  God,  command 


sented,  was  not  that  sinful  ?  If  he 
had  no  movement  of  desire  toward 
them,  how  can  it  be  said  that  he  was 
tempted  ?  Iioav,  that  he  gained  a  vic- 
tory? A  perfectly  satisfactory  ex- 
planation by  beings  who  are  seldom 
tempted  without  at  least  in  some 
measure  sinning,  is  difficult,  and, 
perhaps,  impossible.  The  objects 
which  Satan  presented  were  of 
course  objects  of  thought.  But 
merely  thinking  of  them  was  not 
sin.  If  Jesus  positively  desired 
them,  the  desiring  them  was  sin; 
much  more  was  it  sin  if  he  delighted 
to  think  of  them ;  and  still  more  if 
he  chose  them.  But  he  neither 
chose  them,  nor  delighted  to  think 
of  them,  nor  positively  desired  them. 
Somewhere,  perhaps,  between  think- 
ing of  them  and  actually  desiring 
them,  there  may  have  arisen  in  the 
Saviour's  mind  a  state  which  he  him- 
self knew  was  a  state  of  temptation. 
This  is  probably  as  near  to  the  solu- 
tion of  the  difficulty  as  the  most  pro- 
longed speculation  would  be  likely 
to  bring  us.  As  to  the  object  of  the 
temptation,  it  should  be  considered, 
first,  that  all  the  sufferings  which 
Jesus  bore  in  passing  through  it, 
were  a  part  of  his  sufferings  endured 
for  man;  secondly,  that  they  con- 
duced "to  perfectness  of  official 
qualification."  In  proof  of  the  lat- 
ter, see  Heb.  2  :  10,  with  Prof.  Rip- 
ley's note  in  his  excellent  Commen- 
tary on  that  Epistle.  Thirdly,  should 
be  considered  the  moral  effect  of  the 
temptation  and  victory  upon  disci- 
ples in  every  age. 

Of  the  devil — Barnes  says,  "The 
name  is  sometimes  given  to  men  and 
women."  With  the  article  it  is 
never  applied  to  a  human  being. 
The  devil  is  used  to  designate  the 
prince  of  evil  spirits.  The  attempt 
to  show  that  by  "the  devil"  is  not 
meant  a  real  person  is  as  fruitless 


CHAPTER  IV. 


49 


that    these    stones    be    made 
bread. 


as  would  be  the  attempt  to  show  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  not  a  real  person. 
In  the  earlier  Bible  times,  when  the 
personification  of  evil  would  be  most 
probable,  much  less  is  said  of  the 
devil;  but  in  the  later  times,  when 
the  personification  of  evil  would  be 
less  probable,  the  existence  of  the 
devil  is  brought  out  with  great  clear- 
ness. Jesus  says  in  the  explanation 
of  the  parable  of  the  tares,  The  ene- 
my that  sowed  them  is  the  devil.  See 
also  John  8  :  44 ;  14  :  30.  One  may 
profess  to  have  no  belief  in  the  dev- 
il's existence,  yet  may  be  very  much 
in  the  habit  of  using  the  name.  The 
devil  is  not  found  in  cities  only.  He 
that  denies  the  existence  of  the  devil 
gives  reason  to  fear  that  the  devil 
has  not  left  him  untouched.  The 
holiest  being  may  be  tempted.  Ex- 
traordinary illumination  may  be  fol- 
lowed by  extraordinary  temptations. 
Temptations  may  be  greater  in  soli- 
tude than  in  a  crowd,  yet  solitude 
should  be  often  sought.  He  that 
goes  into  solitude  in  disgust  with  so- 
ciety may  be  sure  that  he  was  not 
led  into  it  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 

2.  Fasted.  —  Luke  (4:  2)  says, 
And  in  those  days  he  did  eat  noth- 
ing. Jesus  afterward  said  of  John, 
He  came  neither  eating  nor  drink- 
ing, but  this  is  not  so  strong  a  state- 
ment. We  seem  to  do  no  violence  to 
the  record,  if  we  consider  itas  teach- 
ing that  the  abstinence  was  total. 
That  he  was  afterward  hungry,  im- 
plies that  during  the  fast  he  was  in 
a  preternatural  state.  Moses  (Ex. 
34  :  28)  and  Elijah  (livings  19  :  8) 
each  fasted  forty  days. 

3.  The  tempter  came  —  How? 
In  a  bodily,  visible  form?  or,  in 
suggestions  made  to  the  mind  ?  or, 
thirdly,  is  this  a  mere  personifica- 
tion of  the  Saviour's  own  thoughts  ? 
The  last  is  utterly  inadmissible ;  for 
it  locates  evil  in  the  heart  of  Christ 
himself.  It  is  impossible,  without 
doing  violence  to  the  language  of 

5 


4  But  he  answered  and  said, 
It   is  written,  Man    shall   not 

the  entire  narrative,  to  regard  the 
evil,  and  the  presentation  of  the 
evil,  as  otherwise  than  external. 
As  to  the  first  and  the  second  ques- 
tions, does  not  such  phraseology  as 
Matthew  has  employed,  prove  that 
he  believed  it  to  be  a  bodily  appear- 
ance? But  Matthew's  method  of 
representation  must  have  been  de- 
rived originally  from  Jesus.  In  re- 
lating the  facts  to  his  disciples, 
would  Jesus,  the  only  witness  of 
what  occurred,  have  used  language 
so  adapted  to  make  upon  their  minds 
the  impression  that  the  tempter 
came  in  a  bodily  form,  if  he  came 
only  in  the  other  way  ? 

In  this  first  temptation,  Satan  ap- 
peals to  the  appetite  for  food.  If 
Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God  (see  3 :  17, 
This  is  my  beloved  Son),  it  is  not 
to  be  supposed  necessary  that  he 
should  remain  in  want.  He  may 
work  a  miracle ;  but  a  miracle 
wrought  only  to  supply  himself  with 
food,  will  imply  distrust  of  him  who 
has  sent  him  to  save  men,  and  that 
would  prove  that  he  was  not  sent. 
If — Satan  would  goad  him  by  this 
word  to  the  selfish,  distrustful  act 
of  turning  stones  into  bread.  Bread 
made  of  stones  would  have  given, 
under  the  circumstances,  no  nour- 
ishment to  the  Holy  Son  of  God. 

4.  It  is  written — In  Deut.  8  :  3. 
Jesus  repels  the  tempter  by  argu- 
ment, but  not  by  argument  drawn 
from  reason.  The  appeal  is  made 
to  the  written  word,  which  is  a 
method  not  less  reasonable  than  an 
appeal  made  directly  to  reason  it- 
self. Reason  was  used,  used  rea- 
sonably, but  not  exclusively,  not 
authoritatively.  As  the  Israelites 
had  learned,  by  having  manna  in- 
stead of  common  food,  that  God  is 
not  limited  in  his  resources,  so  Sa- 
tan should  know  that  it  is  not  neces- 
sary that  Jesus,  for  the  support  of 
his  life,  should  have  bread.  God 
can  sustain  him  in  some  other  way, 


50 


MATTHEW. 


live  by  bread  alone,  but  by 
every  word  that  proceedeth  out 
of  the  mouth  of  God. 

5  Then  the  devil  taketh  him 
tip  into  the  holy  city,  and  set- 
teth  him  on  a  pinnacle  of  the 
temple, 

6  And  saith  unto  him,  If 


either  by  another  kind  of  food  sup- 
plied in  the  ordinary  manner,  or 
miraculously;  or,  as  he  had  been 
sustained  during  the  forty  days, 
without  material  food.  Man — Jesus 
here  implies  that  he  is  human.  By 
every  word;  "every  arrangement  of 
the  divine  will."     See  John  4  :  32. 

5.  In  this  second  temptation,  the 
appeal  is  made  to  the  spirit  of  pre- 
sumption. Taketh  him — bodily,  but 
not,  as  Dr.  Whedon  says,  "by 
transporting  his  person  so  with  the 
quickness  of  a  thought,  that  he  is 
not  to  be  conceived  as  on  his  way 
at  any  intermediate  point."  Neither 
these  words  nor  any  others  in  the 
narrative  imply  that  he  was  carried 
through  the  air  at  all.  Matthew 
(17:  1)  says,  And  after  six  days 
Jesus  taketh  Peter,  James,  and  John 
his  brother,  and  bringeth  them  up 
into  an  high  mountain,  apart.  No 
one  supposes  that  Jesus  transported 
the  men  through  the  air ;  but  the 
Greek  word  for  taketh  is  the  same 
in  both  cases. 

The  holy  city — Holy  because  the 
centre  of  the  Old  Testament  theoc- 
racy. A  pinnacle  of  the  temple — 
Concerning  the  temple  see  note  on 
21 :  12.  It  is  impossible  to  deter- 
mine what  part  of  the  temple  is 
meant  by  the  pinnacle  (the  definite 
article  ought  to  have  been  used). 
Some  say  that  Herod's  royal  porch 
is  meant,  which  rose  six  hundred 
feet  over  the  ravine  of  Kedron.  It 
is  the  pinnacle  from  which,  accord- 
ing to  an  unsupported  tradition, 
James  was  thrown.  The  idea  that 
it  was  a  point  so  inaccessible  that  it 
could  not  have  been  reached  unless 


thou  be  the  Son  of  God,  cast 
thyself  down  :  for  it  is  written, 
He  shall  give  his  angels  charge 
concerning  thee ;  aud  in  their 
hands  they  shall  bear  thee  up, 
lest  at  any  time  thou  dash  thy 
foot  against  a  stone. 

7   Jesus  said  unto  him,  It  is 


both  Satan  and  Jesus  had  gone 
through  the  air,  is  without  founda- 
tion. 

Many  persons,  in  looking  down  a 
precipice  from  a  great  height,  as  at 
Niagara  Falls,  are  conscious  of  a 
bewilderment  and  a  daring,  in  which 
they  are  tempted  to  throw  them- 
selves down  the  precipice.  If  this 
is  a  constitutional  peculiarity  of 
men,  we  see  in  the  form  of  the  sec- 
ond temptation  the  peculiar  subtlety 
of  "the  serpent."  What  place  is 
too  sacred  for  Satan  to  enter?  If 
the  devil  led  Jesus  to  so  holy  a 
place  as  the  house  of  God,  is  it  sur- 
prising that  he  leads  some  profes- 
sors of  religion  into  the  ball-room 
and  the  theatre  ? 

6.  It  is  written— InPs.  91:  11, 
12.  A  wonderful  stroke  of  policy ! 
As  our  Lord  had  repelled  the  first 
attack  with  Scripture,  Satan  imi- 
tates him  by  turning  to  Scripture 
himself.  Familiarity  with  the  Bible 
is  no  proof  of  saintship.  Some  men, 
without  belief  in  the  supernatural 
character  of  any  of  the  facts  narra- 
ted in  the  Scriptures,  have  made  the 
Bible  a  life-study.  Satan  has  been 
accused  of  unfairness  in  applying  to 
Jesus  words  which  the  Psalmist  ap- 
plies to  the  servants  of  God  in  gen- 
eral. There  was  no  unfairness  on 
that  ground,  for  the  promise  made 
to  God's  servants  in  general  was  as 
good  for  Jesus  as  for  others.  Satan 
has  also  been  very  unjustly  accused 
of  unfairness  in  omitting  the  words, 
To  keep  thee  in  all  thy  ways ;  but 
there  is  no  proof  that  the  omission 
was  designed.  It  has  been  suggest- 
ed that  the  words  were  quoted  from 


CHAPTER  IV. 


61 


written  again,  Thou  shalt  not 
tempt  the  Lord  thy  God. 

8  Again,  the  devil  taketh 
him  up  into  an  exceeding  high 
mountain,  and  sheweth  him  all 
the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  and 
the  glory  of  them  ; 

9  And  saith  unto  him,  All 


the  Septuagint.  This  is  a  transla- 
tion of  the  Hebrew  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament in  Greek,  made  in  Alexan- 
dria, Egypt.  The  five  books  of 
Moses  were  translated  nearly  three 
hundred  years  before  Christ;  and, 
as  is  probable,  the  remaining  hooks 
gradually,  so  that  not  far  from  the 
first  of  the  Christian  Era,  all  the 
Old  Testament  books  existed  in 
Greek.  The  Septuagint  and  the 
Hebrew  are  here  so  alike,  that 
Satan  may  as  well  be  supposed  to 
have  quoted  from  the  latter  as  from 
the  former.  Had  Jesus  complied 
with  Satan's  suggestion,  it  would 
not  have  been  trust  in  God,  but 
vanity.  The  "fraud"  consisted  in 
applying  the  passage  to  an  act 
neither  necessary  nor  required. 
Misapplication  of  Scripture  may 
work  infinite  mischief. 

7.  Written  again — In  Deut.  6 : 
16.  Our  Lord  does  not  deny  the 
justness  of  the  sentiment,  but  his 
method  of  dealing  with  the  tempter 
implies  approval  of  the  maxim, 
"Scripture  must  be  interpreted  by 
Scripture."  Satan  tempted  Jesus  to 
tempt  God.  One  may  tempt  God  by 
unnecessarily  exposing  one's  self  to 
evil,  and  at  the  same  time  expecting 
to  be  kept  from  harm.  Contact  with 
evil  must  be  the  contact  of  opposi- 
tion, not  of  embrace.  We  may  tempt 
God  by  fearing  lest  our  wants  may 
not  be  supplied. 

8.  The  third  temptation  is  an  at- 
tempt to  excite  worldly  ambition. 
Taketh — Not  forcibly,  not  against 
his  will.  Which  of  the  mountains 
of  Palestine  is  meant  we  have  no 
means  of  knowing,  and  therefore 
supposition  is  useless.    All  the  Tcing- 


these  things  will  I  give  thee, 
if  thou  wilt  fall  down  and  wor- 
ship me. 

10  Then  saith  Jesus  unto 
him,  Get  thee  hence,  Satan : 
for  it  is  written,  Thou  shalt 
worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and 
him  only  shalt  thou  serve. 


doms,  etc. — The  way  in  which  they 
were  shown  is  not  intimated.  That 
they  were  presented  in  a  vision,  or 
that  Satan  merely  pointed  out  the 
direction  of  the  several  kingdoms, 
or  that  Jesus  saw  them  in  imagina- 
tion, or  that  only  portions  of  Pales- 
tine are  intended,  are  all  assump- 
tions. Luke  (4 :  5)  says  that  the 
kingdoms  were  shown  in  a  moment 
of  time.  In  whatever  way  it  was 
done,  the  result  was  that  all  the 
kingdoms  of  the  world, — especially 
of  the  heathen  world  over  which  Sa- 
tan had  long  held  sway, — with  their 
riches  and  splendor,  their  art  and 
their  military  power,  were  presented 
to  the  mind  of  Jesus  for  the  purpose 
of  inflaming  desire. 

9,  10.  A  truth  and  a  lie  may  be 
found  in  very  close  proximity.  Sa- 
tan was  indeed  "the  prince  of  this 
world."  John  12:31;  14:30;  16: 
11.  With  few  exceptions,  the  kings 
and  nobles  and  people  of  all  lands 
constituted  one  vast  kingdom  of 
evil,  with  Satan  as  the  sovereign. 
This  was  a  truth.  Affirming  that  he 
had  power  to  transfer  this  kingdom 
to  another  was  a  lie.  No  such  power 
had  been  given ;  and,  besides,  from 
the  nature  of  the  case,  such  transfer 
was  impossible.  The  kingdom  of 
evil  originated  with  Satan,  and  had 
grown  up  to  its  enormous  dimen- 
sions by  his  influence.  Jesus  could 
not  have  become  the  sovereign  of 
Satan's  kingdom  without  becoming 
just  what  Satan  himself  was.  But 
it  may  not  have  been  the  intention 
of  Satan  to  tempt  Jesus  by  offering 
to  transfer  his  kingdom  as  a  king- 
dom of  evil,  but  only  as  a  kingdom, 
flattering  him  that  in  a  splendid,  vis- 


52 


MATTHEW. 


11  Then  the  devil  leaveth 
him,  and,  behold,  angels  came 
and  ministered  unto  him. 

12  %  Now  when  Jesus  had 


ible  form  his  Messianic  power  might 
be  at  once  established,  but  knowing 
that  if  he  yielded,  the  establishment 
of  that  power  would  be  prevented. 
If  tbis  view  is  correct,  it  was  a  temp- 
tation to  reject  the  slow,  painful, 
purely  spiritual,  unpopular  method 
which  it  was  the  will  of  God  should 
be  adopted.  -  Written — In  Deut.  6  : 
13,  quoted  from  the  Septuagint. 

11.  Leaveth  him — Not  implying 
that  he  mav  not  return.  See  Luke 
4 :  13-;  22  :  53  ;  John  14  :  30 ;  Matt. 
27  :  46.  James  (4  :  7)  says,  Resist 
the  devil,  and  he  will  flee  from  you. 
Angels  came  and  ministered — Not 
spiritual  strength,  for  this  he  had 
shown  in  resisting  the  temptations, 
but  peace,  comfort,  and  perhaps 
food.  Elijah,  when  hungry,  was 
visited  by  an  angel.  1  Kings  19  : 
4-8.  Jesus  is  now  prepared  for  his 
great  work.  He  has  gained  the  vic- 
tory over  the  greatest  temptations 
offered  to  men,  but  gained  it  not  by 
striking  the  tempter  dead  by  the 
breath  of  his  will,  which  would  have 
been  a  victory  of  no  spirituality  and 
no  sublimity,  but  by  refusing  to  yield 
to  the  tempter.  He  has  conquered 
not  for  himself  only,  but  for  all  his 
people.  In  many  a  man's  life  there 
is  a  turning  point  at  which  the  soul 
leaps  madly  into  the  embrace  of  the 
Evil  One,  or  becomes  so  confirmed 
in  love  and  faith  that  disloyalty  to 
God  is  made  well-nigh  impossible. 
Judas  is  an  example  of  the  former ; 
Peter  of  the  latter.  Temptation, 
however,  cannot  be  expected  to 
cease  in  the  present  life ;  and,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  Israelites  on  their 
journey  from  Egypt  to  Canaan,  the 
real  giants  may  come  last.  God's 
word  is  security,  not  against  attacks 
frpm  the  devil,  but  against  defeat. 
When  devils  go,  angels  come.  No- 
tice the  many  interesting  points  of 


heard  that  John  was  cast  into 
prison,  he  departed  into  Gali- 
lee ; 

13   And  leaving  Nazareth, 


resemblance  and  of  unlikeness  be- 
tween the  temptation  of  Jesus  and 
that  of  Adam. 

781  TJ.C    April,  A.B.  28. 

12,  13.  The  events  recorded  in 
these  verses  did  not  occur  till  more 
than  a  year  after  those  narrated  in 
the  preceding  verse.  Where  Jesus 
was,  and  what  he  did  during  the  in- 
terval, will  be  seen  when  we  come 
to  the  study  of  John.  So  far  as 
Matthew's  report  shows,  we  are  now 
to  examine  the  beginning  of  our 
Lord's  ministry,  but  it  must  not  be 
inferred  that  Matthew  was  ignorant 
of  the  fact  that  a  year  of  his  minis- 
try had  already  passed  away.  The 
Holy  Spirit  did  not  see  fit  to  lead 
our  evangelist  to  record  the  labors 
of  the  first  year. 

John  .  .  .  into  prison — This  event 
occurred  probably  in  March,  A.D. 
28,  in  the  year  of  Rome  781.  Her- 
od's wickedness  brings  the  gospel  to 
the  publicans  and  sinners  of  Galilee 
all  the  sooner.  Capernaum — "The 
contest  between  the  rival  claims  of 
the  two  most  probable  spots  is  one 
of  the  hottest,  and  at  the  same 
time  the  most  hopeless,  in  sacred 
topography."  It  is  certain  that  it 
was  "upon  the  sea-coast,"  that  is, 
by  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  and  it  was 
doubtless  on  the  western  side  of  the 
sea.  Khan  Minyeh,  Tell  Hum  three 
miles  further  north,  'Ain  Mudawa- 
rah,  or  the  Round  Fountain,  and  a 
spot  very  near  Bethsaida,  near  the 
Upper  Jordan,  have  their  respective 
advocates.  As  recently  as  18G6  was 
reported  "the  discovery"  [at  Tell 
Hum]  "  of  a  synagogue  in  a  state  of 
fine  preservation,  remarkable  for  its 
elegant  architecture,  and  belonging 
in  all  probability  to  an  age  earlier 
than  that  of  Christ.     It  may  have 


CHAPTER  IV. 


53 


he  came  and  dwelt  in  Caper- 
naum, which  is  upon  the  sea 
coast,  in  the  borders  of  Zabu- 
lon  and  Nephthalim : 

14  That  it  might  be  fulfilled 
which  was  spoken  by  Esaias 
the  prophet,  saying, 

15  The  land  of  Zabulon,  and 
the  land  of  Nephthalim,  by  the 
way  of  the  sea,  beyond  Jor- 
dan, Galilee  of  the  Gentiles  ; 

16  The  people  which  sat  in 
darkness  saw  great  light ;  and 


been  one  of  the  Galilean  synagogues 
in  which  the  Saviour  himself  taught 
and  performed  some  of  his  mighty 
works."  As  Dr.  Hackett  remarks, 
however,  this  of  itself  would  not 
settle  the  question  of  the  name  of 
the  town.  Sea-coast — See  note  on 
vs.  18.  Zabulon  and  Nephthalim — 
Territories  which,  named  after  two 
of  the  sons  of  Jacob,  were  in  the 
northern  part  of  Palestine  and  ex- 
tended on  the  east  to  the  Sea  of  Gal- 
ilee. Zabulon  lay  on  the  southern 
side  of  Nephthalim. 

14-16.  By  Esaias— In  9 :  1,  2. 
The  quotation  is  made  freely  from 
the  Hebrew  itself.  The  substance 
of  the  thought  is  fairly  expressed, 
though  the  words  are  not  exactly 
similar  to  those  of  the  prophet.  The 
prophecy  is  generally  regarded  as 
having  distinct  reference  to  the 
times  of  the  Messiah.  The  northern 
portions  of  Palestine  were  more  ex- 
posed to  the  deteriorating  influence 
of  the  Gentiles  than  the  central  por- 
tions. The  people  were  far  from  the 
centre  of  national  worship.  They 
were  not  so  much  given  to  reflec- 
tion upon  religion,  nor  so  much  to 
religious  observances,  as  those  who 
lived  nearer  Jerusalem.  The  peo- 
ple having  less  social  refinement, 
their  depravity  took  on  coarser 
forms.  Hence  they  are  represented 
as  sitting  in  darkness  and  in  the  re- 
gion of  the  shadow  of  death.  The 
5* 


to  them  which  sat  in  the  region 
and  shadow  of  death  light  is 
sprung  up. 

17  ^f  From  that  time  Jesus 
began  to  preach,  and  to  say, 
Repent :  for  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  at  hand. 

18  %  And  Jesus,  walking 
by  the  sea  of  Galilee,  saw  two 
brethren,  Simon  called  Peter, 
and  Andrew  his  brother,  cast- 
ing a  net  into  the  sea :  for  they 
were  fishers. 


darkness  was  wide-spread,  reaching 
beyond  Jordan;  not,  perhaps,  in 
this  case,  east  of  the  river,  but  to- 
ward its  sources,  and  even  to  Galilee 
of  the  Gentiles,  by  which  is  meant 
Upper  Galilee,  where  Gentiles  were 
more  numerous.  Now  that  Jesus 
has  begun  to  dwell  in  one  of  their 
principal  cities,  the  words  of  Isaiah 
are  fulfilled.  A  great  light  shine3 
upon  them. 

17.  From  that  time — From  the 
time  he  went  from  Nazareth  and 
made  Capernaum  his  home.  Began 
to  preach — He  had  already  labored 
several  months  in  Judea,  and  had 
preached  more  or  less ;  but  he  now 
begins  his  work  in  Galilee.  It  may 
have  reference,  also,  to  the  fact  that 
John,  being  in  prison,  has  ceased  to 
preach.  The  Baptist  having  closed 
his  labors  as  the  forerunner,  the 
Messiah  himself  enters  more  active- 
ly upon  his  distinctive  work.  To 
preach — "to  publish  orally."  Re- 
pent— See  note  on  3  :  2.  The  mes- 
sage is  substantially  the  same  as 
John's ;  but  it  should  be  borne  in 
mind  that  genuine  repentance,  as 
evinced  by  those  who  have  knowl- 
edge of  Christ,  always  implies  faith 
in  Christ  as  the  Saviour  from  the 
sin  committed.  Mark  (1 :  15)  gives 
the  message  in  the  fuller  form  :  Ee- 
pent  ye  and  believe  the  gospel. 

18.  Sea  of  Galilee — So  called, 
because  the    province    of   Galilee 


54 


MATTHEW. 


19  And  he  saith  unto  them, 
Follow  me,  and  I  will  make 
3toii  fishers  of  men. 

20  And  they  straightway 
left  their  nets  and  followed 
him. 

21  And  going  on  from 
thence,  he  saw  other  two  breth- 
ren, James  the  son  of  Zebedee, 
and  John  his  brother,  in  a  ship 


bordered  its  western  side.  It  was 
also  called  Lake  of  Gennesaret 
(Luke  5:1),  from  the  plain  which 
lay  "at  its  north-western  angle," 
and  Sea  of  Tiberias  (John  6 :  1), 
from  the  city  of  that  name,  which 
stood  on  its  western  side.  It  is 
mentioned  in  Josh.  11 :  2,  by  the 
name  of  Cinneroth.  It  is  "of 
an  oval  shape,  about  thirteen 
geographical  miles  long,  and 
six  broad.  Its  most  remark- 
able feature  is  its  deep  depres- 
sion, being  no  less  than  seven 
hundred  feet  below  the  level  of 
the  ocean.  The  great  depression 
makes  the  climate  of  the  shores 
almost  tropical.  Snow  very  rarely 
falls,  and  though  it  often  whitens 
the  neighboring  mountains,  it  never 
lies  here.  As  the  beach  is  every- 
where pebbly,  it  has  a  beautiful 
sparkling  look.  The  lake  abounds 
in  fish  now,  as  in  ancient  times. 
In  the  time  of  Christ  no  less  than 
nine  cities  stood  on  the  very  shores 
of  the  lake ;  while  numerous  large 
villages  dotted  the  plains  and  hill- 
sides around.  This  region  was 
then  the  most  densely  peopled  in  all 
Palestine." — Smith's  Diet,  of  the  Bi- 
ble. On  the  borders  of  this  sea,  our 
Lord  spent  most  of  his  public  life. 
Concerning  the  'Plain  of  Gennesa- 
ret, see  note  on  14  :  34.  Peter  and 
Andrew — See  note  on  10  :  2.  Net 
— There  were  two  kinds,  the  casting 
net,  which  is  the  kind  here  meant, 
and  the  drag  net  mentioned  in  Matt. 
13  :  47.  The  latter  was  used  with  a 
boat.  The  former  was  cast,  or 
thrown,  by  the  fisherman  from  the 


with  Zebedee  their  father, 
mending  their  nets ;  and  he 
called  them. 

22  And  they  immediately 
left  the  ship  and  their  father, 
and  followed  him. 

23  %  And  Jesus  went  about 
all  Galilee,  teaching  in  their 
synagogues,  and  preaching  the 
gospel   of   the   kingdom,   and 


shore.  Though  fish  are  now,  as 
formerly,  very  abundant  in  the  Sea 
of  Galilee, yet,  as  Porter  says,  "The 
fishery,  like  the  soil  of  the  sur- 
rounding country,  is  sadly  neglect- 
ed. One  little  crazy  boat  is  the  sole 
representative  of  the  fleets  that  cov- 


FISHING    NET. 

ered  the  lake  In  N.  T.  times,  and 
even  with  it  there  is  no  deep-water 
fishing." — Two  men  to  one  net, — an 
instructive  fact. 

21,  22.  James  and  John — See 
note  on  10 :  2.  He  called  them — 
These  four  men  are  now,  for  the 
first  time,  distinctly  called  to  be 
constant  followers  of  Jesus,  though 
(John  1 :  37-42)  Andrew,  Simon, 
John,  and  perhaps  James,  had 
known  him  before,  in  Judea,  and  in 
a  general  sense  had  been  called  to 
be  his  disciples.  The  call  is  in- 
stantly and  cheerfully  obeyed.  All 
is  left,  even  the  father,  and  the 
father  himself  makes  no  opposition. 
That  he  was  aged,  and  needed  his 
sons'  support,  is  without  proof. 
Fishing  is  still  to  be  the  business  of 
the  disciples,  but  fishing  of  a  very 
different  kind. 

Here  is  the  beginning  of  organ- 
ized effort  to  save  the  world.  A 
mustard-seed,  but  it  will  grow  to  be 


CHAPTER  IV. 


55 


healing  all  manner  of  sickness, 
and  all  manner  of  disease, 
among  the  people. 


a  great  tree !  A  leaven  that  will 
eventually  leaven  the  whole  lump ! 
As  to  the  composition  of  the  apos- 
tolic body,  see  the  paragraph  pre- 
ceding the  note  on  10  :  5. 

23.  Our  Lord's  labors  in  Galilee 
have  been  very  conveniently  ar- 
ranged by  Andrews,  in  his  "  Life 
of  our  Lord,"  into  alternate  sojourns 
in  Capernaum  and  Circuits.  Be- 
fore his  final  departure  from  Caper- 
naum and  Galilee,  he  made  nine 
circuits.  Thus  there  were  nine 
sojourns.  These  are  not  all  re- 
corded, however,  in  the  Gospel  of 
Matthew.  One  of  the  circuits  is 
reported,  summarily,  in  this  23d 
vs.  How  many  of  the  four  hundred 
and  four  towns  and  villages  which 
Galilee  is  said  to  have  contained, 
Jesus  visited,  we  have  no  means 
of  knowing.  Teaching  in  their 
synagogues — These  buildings  were 
erected  for  prayer,  and  the  reading 
of  the  Old  Testament.  Our  Lord 
often  taught  in  them,  and  performed 
in  them  many  of  his  miracles.  Un- 
like the  temple,  synagogues  were 
not  used  for  sacrifices.  There  is  no 
proof  that  they  came  into  use  till 
many  centuries  after  the  completion 
of  Solomon's  Temple.  Nearly  ev- 
ery town  had  one,  and  some  had 
more.  They  were  so  located  that 
when  entering  them,  persons  would 
be  looking  toward  Jerusalem.  Ev- 
ery synagogue  had  an  ark,  or  chest, 
containing  a  copy  of  the  Law.  It 
had  "  chief  seats  "  (23  :  6),  or  seats 
of  honor,  "  to  which  the  wealthy  and 
honored  worshipper  was  invited," 
and  a  reading-desk  on  a  platform, 
from  which  the  Scriptures  were 
read.  Connected  with  the  syna- 
gogue were  "  elders,"  to  which  ref- 
erence is  made  in  Luke  7 :  3,  over 
whom  was  a  "ruler,"  as,  for  exam- 
ple, Jairus  (Luke  8 :  41) ;  the 
"minister"  (Luke  4:  20),  whose 
duty  it  was  "  to  open  the  doors,  to 


24  And  his  fame  went 
throughout  all  Syria :  and  they 
brought  unto  him  all  sick  peo- 

get  the  building  ready  for  service." 
"The  officers  of  the  synagogue  ex- 
ercised in  certain  cases  a  judicial 
power."  Matthew  10 :  17  proves 
that  even  punishment  was  some- 
times inflicted  in  the  building  it- 
self:— And  they  will  scourge  you  in 
their  synagogues. 

Preaching  the  gospel  of  the  king- 
dom— The  good  news  of  the  king- 
dom. See,  in  Luke  4:  16-22,  a 
very  beautiful  illustration  of  our 
Lord's  method  of  preaching  the 
good  news  in  synagogues. 

24.  Syria — The  large  territory 
on  the  north  of  Palestine,  in  which, 
among  other  towns,  were  Antioch 
on  the  west,  and  Damascus  on  the 
east,  and  the  interesting  mountain 
range  of  Lebanon.  Through  all 
this  wide  and  distant  region  did  the 
fame  of  Jesus  spread,  even  in  the 
earlier  part  of  his  Galilean  minis- 
try. Not  only  were  the  sick  healed 
to  whom  the  Saviour  went,  but  sick 
ones  were  brought  to  him  from  dif- 
ferent and  distant  points.  All  sick 
people  —  The  general  statement. 
Then  follows  the  specification. 
Torments — Possibly,  according  to 
one  writer,  "  acutely  painful  paral- 
ysis, complicated  with  neuralgia;" 
according  to  another,  "cramp, 
twisting  the  limb  round  as  if  in  tor- 
ture." Precisely  what  is  meant,  no 
one  can  certainly  tell.  Possessed 
with  devils — Devils,  or  demons, 
are  recognized  throughout  the  gos- 
pels as  actual  beings.  James  (2 : 
19)  says,  The  devils  also  believe  and 
tremble.  See  also  Rev.  16 :  14. 
The  more  correct  view  of  demoni- 
acal possession  makes  the  person 
both  diseased  and  possessed;  but 
possession,  not  disease,  was  the 
characteristic.  It  is  probable  that 
possession  was  generally  the  result 
of  vice  in  the  grossest  forms.  Re- 
peated and  earnest  attempts  have 
been  made  to  show  that  "posses- 


56 


MATTHEW. 


pie  that  were  taken  with  divers 
diseases    and    torments,    and 


sion"  is  only  symbolic  of  evil;  or, 
that  in  seeming  to  recognize  demons 
in  human  beings,  Christ  only  accom- 
modated himself  to  the  prevalent 
Jewish  belief.  But,  1.  Jesus  used 
language  which  implied  his  own 
perfect  recognition  of  the  personal- 
ity and  indwelling  of  demons.  Ex- 
amine with  care  Luke  11 :  14-2G. 
Jesus  was  truthful,  and  opposed  to 
superstition.  He  could  not  there- 
fore have  uttered  these  words  if  he 
knew  that  such  a  phenomenon  as 
demoniacal  possession  had  no  exist- 
ence. We  need  not  hesitate  to  say 
that,  uttering  such  words  with  such 
knowledge,  Jesus  could  have  no 
claim  on  our  confidence.  The  lan- 
guage which  he  employed  was  not, 
then,  an  "  accommodation  "  of  him- 
self to  popular  opinion.  2.  The 
evangelists  themselves  use  language 
which  proves  that  they  sincerely 
believed  in  the  reality  of  demoni- 
acal possession.  This  would  be 
generally  admitted.  Though  like 
all  the  Jews,  except  the  Sadducees, 
they  had  doubtless  believed  in  it 
before  they  became  disciples  of 
Christ,  yet,  as  evangelists,  they 
could  not  have  used  language  so 
unecmivocally  showing  continued 
belief  in  possession,  had  they  not 
been  strengthened  in  their  opinion 
by  the  evident  belief  of  Jesus  him- 
self. They  speak  of  demons  as 
coming  out  of  men  and  entering 
into  swine ;  to  demons  they  attrib- 
ute given  physical  phenomena; 
they  represent  the  demoniacs  them- 
selves'as  confessing  that  they  were 
possessed  with  demons ;  and  they 
make  a  distinction  between  diseased 
persons  and  demoniacs. 

What  was  demoniacal  possession  ? 
"  The  demoniac  was  one  whose  be- 
ing was  strangely  interpenetrated 
(' possessed'  is  the  most  exact  word 
that  could  be  found)  by  one  or  more 
of  those  fallen  spirits,  who  are  con- 
stantly ass  ?rted  in  Script-ire  ...  to 


those    which    were   possessed 
with   devils,  and  those  which 


be  the  enemies  and  tempters  of  the 
souls  of  men.  He  stood  in  a  totally 
different  position  from  the  aban- 
doned wicked  man,  who  morally  is 
given  over  to  the  devil.  This  latter 
Avould  be  a  subject  for  punishment; 
but  the  demoniac  for  deepest  com- 
passion. There  appears  to  have 
been  in  him  a  double  will  and  double 
consciousness, — sometimes  the  cruel 
spirit  thinking  and  speaking  in  him, 
sometimes  his  poor  crushed  self  cry- 
ing out  to  the  Saviour  of  men  for 
mercy;  a  terrible  advantage  taken 
and  a  struggle  between  sense  and 
conscience  in  the  man  of  morally 
divided  life.  Hence  it  has  been  not 
improbably  supposed,  that  some  of 
these  demoniacs  may  have  arrived 
at  their  dreadful  state  through  vari- 
ous progressive  degrees  of  guilt  and 
sensual  abandonment.  'Lavish  sin, 
and  especially  indulgence  in  sensual 
lusts,  superinducing,  as  it  would 
often,  a  weakness  in  the  nervous 
system,  which  is  the  especial  bond 
between  body  and  soul,  may  have 
laid  open  these  unhappy  ones  to  the 
fearful  incursions  of  the  powers  of 
darkness.' "  To  refer  the  phenomena 
of  modern  "spiritualism"  to  de- 
mons, is,  .in  the  present  state  of 
knowledge,  hasty.  If  they  should 
be  referred,  however,  to  any  sort  of 
spiritual  beings,  they  should  be  as- 
cribed to  demons. 

Lunatic — Derived  from  the  Latin 
word  luna,  and  originally  applied  to 
the  subject,  because  the  disease  was 
believed  to  be  influenced  by  changes 
in  the  moon.  Lunacy  was  probably 
epilepsy,  "a  disease  of  the  brain 
which  causes  persons  affected  with 
it  to  fall  down  suddenly,  and  is  at- 
tended by  convulsive  stupor."  See 
the  graphic  account  of  a  case  in 
Mark  9  :  14-29.  Sometimes  the  lu- 
natic was  possessed. 

Th  e  palsy — "A  loss  of  the  power 
of  voluntary  motion  and  feeling,  one 
or  both  coming  on,  sometimes  grad- 


CHAPTER  V. 


57 


were  lunatic,  and  those  that 
had  the  palsy ;  and  he  healed 
them. 

25  And  there  followed  him 
great  multitudes  of  people  from 
Galilee,  and  from  Decapolis, 
and  from  Jerusalem,  and  from 


ually,  but  more  often  suddenly,  and 
extending  at  one  time  to  a  part,  at 
another  time  to  the  whole  body.  It 
is  a  kind  of  station-house  on  the  way 
to  apoplexy,  where  passengers  stop, 
not  merely  to  stay  over  night,  but  to 
rest  many  days,  or  even  years.  A 
great  injury  inflicted  on  the  brain, 
either  by  pressure  or  other  cause, 
will  induce  a  complete  loss  of  mo- 
tion and  feeling,  and  this  extending 
to  the  whole  structure,  brings  like- 
wise a  loss  of  consciousness,  which 
is  apoplexy.  A  smaller  degree  of 
pressure,  or  a  less  injury  upon  the 
same  brain,  would  occasion  a  loss 
of  motion  only,  or,  if  a  loss  of  feel- 
ing were  experienced  also,  it  would 
only  extend  to  a  part  of  the  body, 
and  consciousness  would  remain. 
This  would  be  palsy.  The  disease 
is  like  apoplexy  in  kind,  but  stops 
short  of  it  in  degree." — Dr.  Ira 
Warren. 

25.  Decapolis  was  a  district  lying 
chiefly  on  the  east  side  of  the  Jor- 
dan. It  contained  ten  cities.  Hence 
its  name.  "This  region,  once  so 
populous  and  prosperous,  from 
which  multitudes  flocked  to  hear 
the  Saviour,  and  through  which 
multitudes  followed  his  footsteps,  is 
now  almost  without  an  inhabitant. 
Six  out  of  the  ten  cities  are  com- 
pletely ruined  and  deserted."  From 
beyond  Jordan — The  territory  lying 
on  the  east  side  of  the  Jordan  south 
of  Decapolis,  and  called  Perea,  from 
the  Greek  word  peran,  which  means 
beyond.  Though  Jerusalem  was  a 
part  of  Judea,  and  Decapolis  was 
itself  beyond  Jordan,  this  apparent 
mixing  or  confusing  of  the  localities 
specified  need  create  no  difficulty. 


Judea,  and  from  beyond  Jor- 
dan. 

CHAPTER  V. 

AND  seeing  the  multitudes, 
he  went  up  into  a  moun- 


It  is  a  general  and  not  uncommon 
style  of  representation. 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE   SERMON   ON  THE   MOUNT. 
TS1  TJ.C.   Midsummer,  J^.H.  38. 

It  must  constantly  be  borne  in 
mind  that  Matthew  does  not  profess 
to  give  the  details  of  the  Saviour's 
life  in  the  order  of  time.  The  de- 
livery of  the  discourse,  for  exam- 
ple, which  we  are  now  to  examine, 
was  preceded  by  much  that  Matthew 
was  not  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God  to 
report;  and  there  is  considerable 
reason  to  suppose  that  the  discourse 
is  introduced  earlier  than  it  might 
have  been  in  relation  to  some  of  the 
events  which  are  given  further  on. 
Let  the  student  keep  in  mind  the 
object  for  which  Matthew  wrote, 
and  he  will  see  why  the  evangelist 
thought  the  order  of  time,  as  to  the 
details,  of  little  importance.  The 
question  whether  this  discourse  and 
that  given  by  Luke  are  the  same 
will  be  considered  in  the  notes  on 
Luke  6 :  20-49. 

The  object  of  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  should  be  attentively  consid- 
ered. It  is  possible  to  explain  the 
discourse  so  that  it  will  seem  to  be 
in  opposition  to  those  parts  of  the 
Bible  which  teach  the  necessity  of 
Christ's  sufferings  as  the  ground  of 
justification.  The  sermon  is  a  fa- 
vorite with  those  who  have  no  be- 
lief in  the  substitutional  character 
of  Christ's  death.  But  as  we  ought 
not  to  overlook  those  passages  which 
teach  the  necessity  of  good  works, 


58 


MATTHEW. 


tain  :  and  when  he  was  set,  his 
disciples  came  unto  him  : 


so  we  ought  not  to  forget  those  which 
inculcate  the  necessity  of  the  atone- 
ment. Neither  the  one  class  of  pas- 
sages nor  the  other  comprises  all 
that  the  Holy  Spirit  has  spoken  to 
men  concerning  the  way  of  salva- 
tion. The  Sermon  on  the  Mount 
was  intended  to  bring  out  not  both 
the  great  features  of  the  Christian 
system,  believing  and  doing,  but 
only,  or  chiefly,  one — doing.  The 
other,  believing,  is  as  clearly  to  be 
seen  elsewhere  as  doing  is  to  be  seen 
here.  Christ's  teaching  was  pro- 
gressive. Compare  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount  with  the  discourse  in 
John  14-17.  Even  the  most  discern- 
ing and  spiritual  of  the  Lord's  dis- 
ciples needed  such  instruction  as 
they  received  on  the  mount  to  pre- 
pare them  for  the  richer  instruction 
given  them  at  the  Supper.  Jesus, 
in  short,  did  not  intend  that  the 
former  should  be  regarded  as  his 
final,  complete  word,  as  he  did  not 
intend  that  his  personal  teachings 
all  combined  should  be  so  regarded. 
He  intended  to  speak,  as  he  did 
speak,  after  his  return  to  heaven, 
through  the  apostles,  and  thus  the 
epistles  are  as  truly  his  instructions 
to  men  as  the  words  he  spoke  at  the 
Supper  and  on  the  Mount. 

The  necessity  of  such  preparatory 
instruction  as  is  given  in  the  Ser- 
mon is  evident  from  the  following 
considerations :  In  the  time  of 
Christ,  outward  righteousness,  "rit- 
ualism," was  mistaken  by  the  Jews 
for  inward  righteousness.  The  mis- 
take pe?vaded  almost  the  entire  na- 
tion. They  must  be  made  to  see  it. 
They  must  be  taught  the  worthless- 
ness  of  the  most  conscientious  ad- 
herence to  mere  rites.  They  must 
be  made  to  see  what  that  righteous- 
ness is  which  God  long  ago  required 
through  Moses,  and  which  some  of 
their  ancestors  had  signally  illus- 
trated. Intimations  of  Christ's  wil- 
lingness to  aid  them  in  attaining  such 


2  And  he  opened  his  mouth, 
and  taught  them,  saying, 


righteousness  .are  made  in  the  nu* 
merous  promises  which  the  Sermon 
contains.  Thus  the  Old  Covenant 
and  the  New  Covenant  are  put,  not 
in  opposition,  as  they  sometimes  are, 
but  in  harmony.  "  I  am  bound  to 
confess,"  says  Tholuck,  "that  the 
farther  my  studies  have  extended, 
the  more  clearly  have  I  seen  that 
the  religion  of  the  Old  Testament 
and  the  Gospel  constitute  one  reve- 
lation, and  the  higher  has  been  my 
consequent  estimate  of  the  loftiness 
and  depth  of  the  Jewish  economy." 
In  tins  connection  Horn.  3 :  31  is 
important.  It  is  impossible  to  con- 
ceive of  a  more  effective  method  of 
breaking  up  whatever  erroneous 
views  of  the  Old  Covenant  the  dis- 
ciples were  still  cherishing. 

Plan  op  the  Sermon. 

Chap.  5:  3-16.  Introduction.— A.  The 
blessedness  of  the  righteous,  a.  Of  the 
poor  in  spirit,  b.  Of  the  sorrowing,  c. 
Of  the  meek.  d.  Of  those  that  long 
for  righteousness,  e.  Of  the  merciful. 
/.  Of  the  pure  in  heart,  g.  Of  the  peace- 
makers, h.  Of  the  persecuted  for 
righteousness'  sake.  i.  Of  the  perse- 
cuted for  Christ's  sake.  B.  The  influ- 
ence of  the  righteous,  a.  A  preserving 
power,    b.  An  enlightening  power. 

17-20.  Subject. — The  superior  char- 
acter OF  THE  RIGHTEOUSNESS  RE- 
QUIRED. 

21-48.  Illustrations  of  the  subject— Part 
I.  Murder;  Adultery;  Divorce;  Per- 
jury; Revenge;  Limited  Love. 

Chap. 6:  1-7:  12.  Partll.  Almsgiving; 
Prayer;  Fasting;  Trusting  God  for  the 
supply  of  our  physical  wants ;  Charita- 
bleness in  judging;  Care  in  communi- 
cating truth ;  Certainty  of  receiving  the 
Father's  benevolent  interposition ;  Lov- 
ing others  as  ourselves. 

13-27.      Conclusion.— a.    Enter  the  way 

„  pointed  out.  b.  Beware  of  false  guides. 
c.  The  consequence  of  giving  heed  to 
his  words,  d.  The  consequence  of  not 
giving  heed. 

1.  The  multitudes — Eev.  Dr.  W. 
M.  Thomson,  who  was  a  missionary 
in  Syria  for  twenty-five  years,  says  in 
his  ' '  Land  and  the  Book  "  :  "  Should 
a  prophet  now  arise  with  a  tithe  of 


CHAPTER  V. 


59 


3  Blessed  are 
spirit :  for  theirs 
dom  of  heaven. 


the  poor  in 
is  the  kina:- 


the  celebrity  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth, 
there  Avould  quickly  be  immense  as- 
semblies about  him  from  Galilee, 
and  from  Decapolis,  and  from  Jeru- 
salem, and  from  Judea,  and  from 
beyond  Jordan.  Bad,  and  stupid, 
and  ignorant,  and  worldly  as  the 
people  are,  their  attention  would  be 
instantly  arrested  by  the  name  of  a 
prophet,  and  they  would  liock  from 
all  parts  to  see,  hear,  and  be  healed. 
There  is  an  irresistible  bias  in  Ori- 
entals of  all  religions  to  run  after 
the  mere  shadow  of  a  prophet,  or  a 
miracle-worker."  How  highly  fa- 
vored are  the  multitudes  who  are 
now  permitted  to  hear  such  a  teach- 
er as  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ !  See- 
ing .  ...  he  went — Not  to  avoid 
them,  but  to  secure  a  more  conven- 
ient place  from  which  to  address 
them.  His  disciples — Not  merely 
the  twelve,  but  all  who,  as  pupils, 
desired  instruction.  The  people 
generally  who  were  in  attendance 
heard  the  discourse,  for  7  :  28  says 
that  the  people  were  astonished  at 
his  doctrine.  A  mountain — The 
mountain;  either  some  definite 
mountain,  or  the  mountainous  re- 
gion in  distinction  from  the  lower 
lands.  Robinson  contends  that  ei- 
ther of  the  several  mountains  on  the 
western  side  of  the  Sea  of  Tiberias 
might  answer  the  conditions.  There 
is,  however,  a  mountain  which  has 
been  designated  as  the  Mount  of  the 
Beatitudes,  though  Robinson  at- 
taches little  value  to  the  tradition, 
and  Hackett  cannot  say  that  he  has 
"any  great  confidence  in  it."  The 
name  of  the  traditionary  mountain 
is  Kurun  Hattin,  the  Horns  of  Hat- 
tin,  Hattin  being  the  name  of  a  vil- 
lage near  the  foot  of  the  mountain, 
and  Horns  having  been  suggested 
by  the  shape.  "The  tradition," 
says  Stanley,  "  cannot  lay  claim  to 
any  early  date ;  it  was  m  all  proba- 


4  Blessed  are  they  that 
mourn  :  for  they  snail  be  com- 
forted. 


bility  suggested  first  to  the  Crusad- 
ers by  its  remarkable  situation.  But 
that  situation  so  strikingly  coincides 
Avith  the  intimations  of  the  Gospel 
narrative,  as  almost  to  force  the  in- 
ference that  in  this  instance  the  eye 
of  those  who  selected  the  spot  was 
for  once  rightly  guided.  It  is  the 
only  height  seen  in  this  direction 
from  the  shores  of  the  Lake  of  Gen- 
nessaret.  The  plain  on  which  it 
stands  is  easily  accessible  from  the 
lake,  and  from  that  plain  to  the  sum- 
mit is  but  a  few  minutes'  walk.  The 
platform  at  the  top  is  evidently  suit- 
able for  the  collection  of  a  multi- 
tude, and  corresponds  precisely  to 
the  '  level  place  '  [Luke  G  :  17,  mis- 
translated '  plain ']  to  which  he 
would  '  come  down '  as  from  one  of 
its  higher  horns  to  address  the  peo- 
ple. Its  situation  is  central,  both 
to  the  peasants'of  the  Galilean  hills 
and  the  fishermen  of  the  Galilean 
lake,  between  which  it  stands,  and 
would  therefore  be  a  natural  resort 
both  to  '  Jesus  and  his  disciples ' 
when  they  retired  for  solitude  from 
the  shores  of  the  sea,  and  also  to  the 
crowds  who  assembled  '  from  Gali- 
lee, from  Decapolis,  from  Jerusa- 
lem, from  Judea,  and  from  beyond 
Jordan.'  " 

2.  Opened  his  mouth — In  Gen. 
29  :  1  are  the  words  (the  translation 
given  by  Dr.  Conant  in  his  revised 
version  of  Genesis),  And  Jacob 
lifted  vp  his  feet,  and  went  to  the 
land  of  the  sons  of  the  East;  "a 
mode  of  expression,"  says  a  note, 
"by  Avhich  the  Hebrew  indicates 
anything  of  formal  and  grave  im- 
port, as  in  this  case  the  undertak- 
ing of  a  long  and  difficult  journey. 
Compare  the  similar  purport  of  the 
phrase,  '  He  opened  his  mouth  and 
taught  them,'  Matt,  5  :  2." 

3.  Blessed — Happy  is  regarded  by 
some  as  a  more  exact  expression  of 


60 


MATTHEW. 


5   Blessed  are  the  meek  :  for 
they  shall  inherit  the  earth. 


the  meaning.  Though  the  only 
question  should  be,  Which  word 
best  represents  the  original?  the 
writer  cannot  forbear  to  say  that 
the  old  Saxon  word,  blessed,  seems 
to  have  something  divine  about  it. 
Happy  has  indeed,  like  blessed,  been 
consecrated  by  Christianity  to  an 
exalted  use ;  but  it  was  cradled  in 
the  doctrine  of  chance.  Hap  was 
chance,  luck ;  and  happiness,  there- 
fore, was  a  state  of  pleasure  result- 
ing from  good  luck.  Though  the 
word  has  sprung  out  of  its  old  pagan 
sense,  and  has  put  on  a  truly  Chris- 
tian meaning,  yet  even  now  it  gets 
tossed  about  much  more  freely 
among  the  rough  things  of  the  earth 
than  the  word  blessed.  Happiness 
is  applied  to  almost  all  sorts  of 
pleasure ;  blessedness  only  to  that 
which  is  exalted  and  refined.1 

The  poor  in  spirit — In  these 
words  is  sti'uck  the  first  blow  against 
the  prevailing  righteousness  of  the 
times,  yet  Jesus  calls  the  hearers 
back  only  to  what  had  already  been 
taught  by  their  own  prophets.  One 
who  has  no  material  possessions 
may  be  wanting  in  the  kind  of  pov- 
erty here  meant ;  one  who  abounds 
in  them  may  abound  in  this  also. 
That  voluntary  poverty  to  which 
Romanism  attaches  such  merit  is 
the   worst  possible   illustration   of 


1  Some  may  be  interested  in  consider- 
ing the  application  of  the  word  Blessed, 
as  a  title,  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  by  the 
Church  of  Rome.  From  henceforth  all 
nations  shall  call  me  Blessed.  Luke  1 :  48. 
A  note  in  the  Roman  Catholic  version 
says :  "  These  words  are  a  prediction  of 
that  honor  which  the  Church  in  all  ages 
should  pay  to  the  blessed  Virgin.  Let 
Protestants  examine  whether  they  are  in 
any  way  concerned  in  this  prophecy." 
They  h'ire  examined,  and  their  decision 
is,  in  the  words  of  Rev.  Frederick  Mey- 
rick,  that  "  the  notion  that  there  is  con- 
veyed in  the  word  any  anticipation  of  her 
bearing  the  title  of  '  Blessed '  arises 
solely  from  ignorance."  In  the  judgment 
of  the    critic,  the    original  (one  word) 


merely  means  "  count  happy. 


6   Blessed  are  they  which  do 
hunger  and  thirst  after  right- 


poverty  of  spirit.  Nor  can  the  Lord 
mean  poor  in  respect  to  mental  cul- 
ture. A  mean,  craven  spirit  is 
equally  remote  from  the  quality  de- 
scribed. Jesus  rebuked  the  church 
in  Laodicea  for  saying,  I  am  rich, 
and  increased  with  goods,  and  have 
need  of  nothing,  and  for  not  know- 
ing that  it  was  wretched,  and  mis- 
erable, and  poor,  and  blind,  and 
naked.  Rev.  8 :  17.  Poverty  of 
spirit ;  therefore  an  internal  state, 
which,  however,  is  more  likely  to 
characterize  those  who  have  little 
property  than  those  who  have  much. 
It  must  mean  consciousness  of  spir- 
itual want;  that  is,  of  sinfulness 
and  ignorance,  which  always  leads 
to  deep  self-abasement.  That  men 
do  not  need  a  supernatural  revela- 
tion, a  Saviour  of  supernatural  ori- 
gin, substitutional  righteousness  as 
the  ground  of  all  personal  right- 
eousness, is  an  assumption  that  does 
not  spring  from  poverty  of  spirit. 
Modern  spiritualism  and  poverty  of 
spirit  are  essentially  contrary  the 
one  to  the  other.  Rationalism  is 
the  offspring  of  pride.  The  kingdom, 
of  heaven — See  note  on  3  :  2,  second 
paragraph.  Theirs — They  are  mem- 
bers of  it ;  or,  since  the  kingdom  is 
essentially  internal,  it  is  a  posses- 
sion lodged  in  the  spirit.  The 
deeper  the  poverty,  the  ampler  the 
riches.  "In  the  view  of  those  Jews 
whose  senses  were  dazzled  with 
brilliant  pictures  of  the  Messiah's 
kingdom,  this  commencement  of  his 
discourse  contrasted  strongly  with 
the  whole  circle  of  their  ideas  ;  but 
to  those  in  whom  the  law  had  ful- 
filled its  office,  and  who  were  broken- 
hearted, such  language  was  a  balm." 
4.  They  that  mourn — Poverty 
of  spirit  leads  to  mourning,  not 
merely  at  the  introduction  of  the 
soul  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  but 
throughout  this  life.  The  mourn- 
ing must  be  viewed  "as  a  continu- 
ous condition  of  the  soul,"  caused 


CHAPTER  V 


CI 


eousness :    for   they   shall   be 
filled. 


by  continuous  consciousness  of  pov- 
erty of  spirit.  Shall  be  comforted — 
Immediately  and  ever  after,  but  in 
the  highest  degree  in  heaven.  This 
is  a  continuous  state  as  well  as  the 
other.  According  to  Paul,  it  is  pos- 
sible to  be  sorrowful  yet  always  re- 
joicing. Christ  himself  is  the 
Comforter.  The  effects  of  his  com- 
ing had  been  described  by  the  proph- 
ets under  precisely  this  conception. 
Says  Isaiah  (40:  1),  Comfort  ye, 
comfort  ye,  my  people.  To  comfort 
all  that  mourn,  etc.  Isa.  61 :  1,  2,  3. 
See  the  whole  of  the  beautiful  de- 
scription. In  Luke  2  :  25,  Simeon 
is  represented  as  waiting  for  the 
Consolation  of  Israel ;  and  when  the 
aged  saint  saw  the  child  Jesus,  he 
exclaimed,  Lord,  now  lettest  thou 
thy  servant  depart  in  peace  accord- 
ing to  thy  word.  Mourning  without 
being  comforted  is  not  the  true  con- 
ception of  a  member  of  Messiah\s 
kingdom.  Joy  which  is  not  born  of 
mourning  under  conscious  poverty 
of  spirit  is  spurious. 

5.  Another  shaft  aimed  at  the 
false  righteousness  of  the  times. 
The  meek — Those  who  bear  evil  with 
patience  and  humility.  The  doc- 
trine of  the  world  at  that  time,  and 
even  to  this  day,  is  contrary  to  that 
which  is  here  taught.  It  was  held 
by  the  ancient  Britons  that  patience 
avails  nothing  except  to  bring  upon 
us  yet  heavier  evils.  This  had  not 
been  the  teaching  even  of  the  Old 
Testament,  for  Ps.  37  :  11  says,  The 
meek  shall  inherit  the  earth.  -But 
Jesus  must  be  understood  as  giving 
to  this  Old  Testament  doctrine  a 
richer  meaning  than  even  the  most 
spiritual  men  of  his  day  were  able 
to  perceive.  The  truly  meek  of  our 
Lord's  time  expected  to  inherit  the 
sarth  in  the  sense  that  the  Messiah's 
kingdom,  of  which  they  were  to  be 
members,  was  about  to  be  set  up  in 
the  Holy  Land.  This,  so  far,  was 
lot  an  incorrect  understanding  of 
6 


7   Blessed  are  the  merciful : 
for  they  shall  obtain  mercy. 

the  Old  Testament.  But  Jesus  uses 
the  words  to  express  the  ever  grow- 
ing and  at  last  universal  supremacy 
which  the  patiently  suffering  mem- 
bers of  his  kingdom  shall  attain. 
The  proud  monarchs  of  the  world 
must  give  place.  The  mighty  change ' 
has  been  in  progress  ever  since 
Christ  spoke  on  the  Mount.  Sensi- 
tiveness relative  to  our  personal 
rights  is  not  enjoined  by  Jesus  as  a 
virtue.  Too  little  meekness  is  still 
a  fault  even  in  many  disciples  of 
Christ. 

6.  Those  who  are  poor  in  spirit, 
who  mourn,  and  are  meek,  cannot 
but  hunger  and  thirst  after  right- 
eousness. This  word  has  been  ex- 
plained by  some  as  the  imputed 
righteousness  of  Christ,  by  some  as 
personal  righteousness,  and  by  oth- 
ers as  both.  The  context  requires 
it  to  be  understood  as  personal 
righteousness,  but  other  parts  of  the 
Scriptures  teach  us  that  Christ's 
righteousness,  imputed  through 
faith,  lies  at  the  basis  of  personal 
righteousness.  Eighteousness  "  is 
that  state  of  niind  which  corresponds 
to  the  moral  requirements  of  God's 
righteousness."  This  is  what  men 
find  impossible  of  attainment  by 
their  own  exertions ;  but  it  is  attain- 
able through  Christ.  Examine  with 
care  Rom.  8  :  2-4.  This  righteous- 
ness in  its  perfect  realization  is  in- 
dispensable to  perfect  blessedness, 
but  in  heaven  it  will  be  the  posses- 
sion of  every  believer.  Hunger  and 
thirst — Figures  expressing  intense 
desire.  They  are  suggestive  of  pain. 
When,  in  heaven,  the  soul  is  filled 
with  righteousness,  the  element  of 
pain  will  be  wanting,  but  not  the 
desire. 

7.  The  Pharisees  scarcely  had  a 
conception  of  the  quality  which  Je- 
sus here  commends.  See,  in  evi- 
dence, 9  :  13,  But  go  ye  and  learn 
what  that  meaneth,  I  will  have 
mercy  and  not  sacrifice ;  12  :  7,  But 


02 


MATTHEW. 


8  Blessed  are  the  pure  in 
heart :   for  they  shall  see  God. 

9  Blessed    are    the    peace- 


if  ye  had  known  what  this  meaneth, 
i  will  have  mercy  and  not  sacrifice, 
ye  would  not  have  condemned  the 
guiltless;  23:  23,  in  which  the 
Pharisees  are  denounced  for  omit- 
ting the  weightier  matters  of  the 
law,  judgment,  mercy,  and  faith. 
The  mercy  which  Jesus  commends 
is  a  Christian  virtue.  To  him  who 
manifests  it  God  will  show  mercy, 
while,  strictly  speaking,  it  is  the 
mercy  of  God  first  manifested  that 
inspires  the  soul  with  the  spirit  of 
raeroy.  Thus  we  must  ever  pray, 
And  forgive  vs  our  debts,  as  we  for- 
give our  debtors'.  The  methods  of 
mercy  are  various.  "This  beati- 
tude comprises  every  degree  of  sym- 
pathy and  mutual  love  and  help." 

8.  The  pure  in  heart — The  Phar- 
isees aimed  to  make  clean  the  out- 
side of  the  platter.  They  appeared 
righteous  unto  men,  but  within  were 
full  of  hypocrisy.  They  failed,  there- 
fore, in  this  respect,  also,  to  mani- 
fest the  righteousness  of  the  law. 
But  even  sincerity  and  inward  in- 
tegrity are  not  all  that  is  embraced 
in  the  Saviour's  words.  Purity  of 
heart  expresses  essentially  the  same 
as  righteousness  in  vs.  G.  That, 
however,  is  represented  as  desired; 
this  as  obtained.  It  is  a  freedom 
from  all  moral  pollution,  embrac- 
ing great  delicacy  of  conscience, 
superiority  to  all  debasing  associa- 
tions of  thought,  the  use  of  the  ap- 
petites, propensities,  affections,  and 
will  in  accordance  with  the  will  of 
God, — the  result  of  a  divinely  ex- 
erted power.  Shall  see  God — Not 
the  essence  of  God.  Seeing  God  in 
that  sense  is  the  exclusive  preroga- 
tive of  Christ.  Not  that  any  man 
hath  seen  the  Father,  save  he  which 
is  of  God,  he  hath  seen  the  Father. 
John  G  :  1G.  Seeing — Not  an  act  of 
the  understanding  only,  not  "in- 
tuitions of  reason,"  not  an  act  of  the 


makers  :  for  they  shall  be  called 
the  children  of  God. 

10   Blessed  are  they  which 


resurrection-body,  but  "the  most 
intimate  fellowship  with  God."  It 
is  through  the  faith  that  works  by 
line  that  such  fellowship  is  attained. 
Hence  the  faintest  breathings  of 
love  prove  that  the  soul  lias  entered 
into  fellowship  with  God.  The  vis- 
ion of  God  thus  begun  here  will  be- 
come clearer  forever.  Christ  will 
be  seen  in  heaven  by  the  eye  of  the 
resurrection-body,  and  doubtless  by 
the  redeemed  spirit  before  the  body 
is  raised, — how,  we  have  no  means 
of  knowing;  but  the  chief  tiling  in- 
tended, both  before  the  resurrec- 
tion and  after,  is  fellowship  with 
God. 

9.  Peace-male ers — Not  the  peace- 
able, but  those  who  make  peaceful 
them  that  are  at  enmity.  They  are 
the  opposite  of  strife-makers.  The 
virtue  was  taught  under  the  Old 
Covenant,  but  it  was  not  generally 
understood  in  the  Avide  and  spiritual 
sense  in  which  it  is  intended  by 
Christ.  Being  himself  the  great 
Peace-Maker  (see  the  beautiful  pas- 
sage, Eph.  3:  13-19),  Jesus  raises 
peace-making  to  a  higher  position 
than  it  is  possible  for  men  to  attain 
till  they  have  come  into  peace  with 
God  by  him.  Peace-making,  in  the 
widest  sense,  is  bringing  men  into 
harmony  with  God.  The  children 
of  God — Implying  that  persons  of 
this  description,  (1.)  Have  their  ori- 
gin with  God;  (2.)  Are  like  God. 
God,  then,  is  a  Peace-Maker,  which 
is  distinctly  taught  in  Col.  1 :  20, 21. 
Shall  be  called — Not  merely  shall 
be,  but  shall  be  recognized  as  such. 
Peace-making  is  the  legitimate  busi- 
ness of  all  the  subjects  of  Christ's 
kingdom.  "  On  the  spot  where  Je- 
sus had  described  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  and  pronounced  the  meek 
and  the  peace-makers  blessed,  the 
most  bloody  battles  have  been 
fought!     On  the  5th  of  July,  1187, 


CHAPTER  V. 


63 


are  persecuted  for  righteous- 
ness' sake :  for  theirs  is  the 
kingdom  of  heaven. 

11  Blessed  are  ye,  when  men 
shall  revile  you,  and  persecute 
you,  and  shall  say  all  manner 
of  evil  against  you  falsely,  for 
my  sake. 


the  celebrated  battle  of  Hattin  took 
place,  in  which  the  last  remnant  of 
the  Crusaders  was  destroyed  on  the 
height  of  Tell  Hattin,  after  the  army 
had  been  beaten  by  Sultan  Saladin 
in  the  valley.  Again,  on  the  plain  of 
Jezreel,  Bonaparte  defeated,  in  1799, 
with  three  thousand  men,  an  army 
of  twenty-five  thousand  Turks." 

10.  Persecuted — Not  merely  by 
the  operation  of  unjust  law,  but  also 
in  other  ways.  For  rigJiteousness' 
take — On  account  of  your  own 
righteousness.  Tims  plainly  does 
Jesus  apprise  his  followers  that  even 
righteousness  will  secure  the  world's 
active  hatred.  The  forces  of  evil 
were  marshalled  against  Jesus  him- 
self when  an  infant,  and  the  greater 
the  contrast  became  between  his 
righteousness  and  the  false  right- 
eousness of  the  times,  the  more  in- 
tensely was  he  persecuted.  Perse- 
cution is  the  most  terrible  chapter 
in  human  history.  Persecution  has 
often  been  waged  in  the  name  of 
Christianity,  but  never  by  Christian- 
ity herself.  The  sufferings  must  be 
borne  for  righteousness'  sake,  or 
there  is  no  blessedness  in  the  suf- 
fering. 

11.  The  ninth  beatitude,  though 
not  so  reckoned  by  many  eminent 
interpreters.  It  is  generally  re- 
garded as  only  an  expansion  of  the 
thought  expressed  in  vs.  10;  but 
there  is  an  important  advance  in  the 
thought.  Here  it  is  persecution  for 
Christ's  sake  to  which  Jesus  pre- 
fixes a  distinct  blessing.  That  a 
promise  is  not  expressed  in  this 
verse  is  no  objection  to  the  view. 
The  promise  is  in  vs.    12.     Slan- 


12  Rejoice,  and  be  exceed- 
ing glad  :  for  great  is  your  re- 
ward in  heaven  :  for  so  perse- 
cuted they  the  prophets  which 
were  before  you. 

13  f  Ye  are  the  salt  of  the 
earth  :  but  if  the  salt  have  lost 
his  savour,  wherewith  shall  it 


dering  Christians,  of  which  Je- 
sus here  speaks,  has  always  been 
very  common.  History  is  full  of 
illustrations  of  this  kind  of  persecu- 
tion. Falsely — Christians  must  so 
live  that  what  is  alleged  against 
them  shall  have  no  foundation  in 
fact. 

12.  Be  exceeding  glad — Exult.  It 
is  stronger  than  rejoice.  Four  re- 
ward— A  reward  may,  or  may  not, 
be  a  reward  of  merit.  In  this  case, 
the  idea  of  meritoriousness  is  to  he 
excluded.  "It  is  inconceivable," 
says  Tholuck,  "that  man  can  ren- 
der by  his  virtues  any  service  to  God, 
any  more  than  in  taking  a  draught 
of  the  fountain  the  thirsty  traveller 
renders  that  fountain  a  service." 
See  Pom.  4:4;  Luke  17  :  10.  The 
teaching  of  infidelity  that  men  have 
"a  natural,  inalienable  right  to  the 
providence  of  God"  {Theodore 
Parker),  is  not  the  doctrine  of 
Christ.  The  prophets — Jeremiah 
was  scourged  and  put  in  the  stocks 
(Jer.  20  :  2)  ;  Zechariah  was  stoned 
(2  Chron.  24:  21);  and  Jewish 
writers  affirm  that  Isaiah  was  sawn 
asunder. 

Nine  blessings  ;  nine  characteris. 
tics  of  the  righteous  ;  nine  promises. 
He  that  desires  the  blessings  must 
have  the  characteristics.  He  that 
desires  the  fulfilment  of  the  prom- 
ises must  have  faith.  How  exalted 
the  righteousness  descrihed !  How 
earnestly  should  it  he  sought ! 

13.  Jesus  now  speaks  of  the  in- 
fluence of  such  righteousness  as  he 
has  descrihed.  In  this  verse  he 
represents  his  disciples  as  a  preserv- 
ing power.     Salt — Nothing  is  more 


64 


MATTHEW. 


be  salted?  it  is  thenceforth 
good  for  nothing,  but  to  be 
cast  out,  and  to  be  trodden 
under  foot  of  men. 


useful  than  sun  and  salt,  says  an 
old  Roman  proverb.  Homer  calls 
salt  divine,  and  another  ancient 
Greek  writer  speaks  of  it  as  an 
emblem  of  righteousness.  "  Attic 
salt"  is  a  phrase  used  for  wit.  Salt 
is  universally  used  for  seasoning 
and  preserving.  So  the  disciples 
of  Christ,  not  the  apostles  only,  are 
a  seasoning  and  preserving  power 
in  a  world  which  is  unsavory  and 
full  of  tendencies  to  corruption. 
They  are  such  by  the  active  effort 
which  they  make  to  save  men.  Hare 
lost  his  savor — "I  have  often,"  says 
Thomson,  "  seen  just  such  salt,  and 
the  identical  disposition  of  it  that 
our  Lord  has  mentioned.  A  mer- 
chant of  Sidon,  having  farmed  of  the 
government  the  revenue  from  the 
importation  of  salt,  brought  over  an 
immense  quantity  from  the  marshes 
of  Cyprus, — enough,  in  fact  to  sup- 
ply the  whole  province  for  at  least 
twenty  years.  This  he  had  trans- 
ferred to  the  mountains,  to  cheat 
the  government  out  of  some  small 
percentage.  Sixty-five  houses  in 
June — Lady  Stanhope's  village — 
were  rented  and  filled  Avith  salt. 
These  houses  have  merely  earthen 
floors,  and  the  salt  next  the  ground, 
in  a  few  years,  entirely  spoiled.  I 
saw  large  quantities  of  it  literally 
thrown  into  the  street,  to  be  trodden 
under  foot  of  men  and  beasts.  It 
was  '  good  for  nothing.'  Similar 
magazines  are  common  in  this  coun- 
try, and  have  been  from  remote 
ages,  as  we  learn  from  history,  both 
sacred  and  profane  ;  and  the  sweep- 
ing out  of  the  spoiled  salt  and  cast- 
ing it  into  the  street  are  actions 
familiar  to  all  men." 

"  Maundrell,  who  visited  the  lake 
at  Jebbul,  tells  us  that  he  found  salt 
there  which  had  entirely  '  lost  its  sa- 
vor.' Indeed,  it  is  a  well-known  fact 


14  Ye  are  the  light  of  the 
world.  A  city  that  is  set  on 
a  hill  cannot  be  hid. 

15  Neither  do  men  light  a 


that  the  salt  of  this  country,  when  in 
contact  with  the  ground,  or  exposed 
to  rain  and  sun,  does  become  insipid 
and  useless.  So  troublesome  is  this 
corrupted  salt,  that  it  is  carefully 
swept  up,  carried  forth,  and  thrown 
into  the  street.  No  man  will  allow  it 
to  be  thrown  on  to  his  field,  and  the 
only  place  for  it  is  the  street,  and 
there  it  is  cast  to  be  trodden  under 
foot  of  men."  It  is  not  necessary, 
however,  to  suppose  that  Jesus 
meant  "that  every  trace  of  the  pe- 
culiar taste  of  salt  were  wanting," 
but  only  that  it  has  from  some  cause 
been  so  far  injured  as  to  be  unfit 
either  for  seasoning  or  preserving. 
Here  is  no  such  doctrine  as  that  a 
renewed  soul  will  finally  perish.  If 
a  disciple  has  lost  the  disposition  to 
work  as  an  instrument  in  saving 
men,  there  is  no  human  power  by 
which  it  can  be  restored  to  him. 
What  God's  grace  may  do  for  him  is 
to  be  learned  from  other  parts  of  the 
Bible.  Or,  like  all  similar  ones  in 
the  epistles  (Heb.  6:6),  this  if  may 
be  understood  as  a  warning  note  to 
keep  us  from  final  ruin.  Means  to 
keep  all  the  children  of  God  from 
apostasy  must  be  used.  My  sheep 
shall  never  perish.  In  the  light 
of  these  words,  all  such  hypothet- 
ical expressions  should  be  inter- 
preted. The  salt  of  the  earth — Of 
the  people  of  the  earth.  Christians 
are,  not  may  be,  or  ought  to  be,  or 
will  become,  but  are,  the  means, 
etc. 

14.  Ye  are  the  light — Not  only  a 
different  figure,  but  a  different  sen- 
timent. This  teaches  that  Christians 
bothiis  individuals  and  as  organized 
churches,  are  (their  present  charac- 
teristic) an  enlightening  power ;  that 
is,  a  power  for  communicating 
knowledge  to  men ;  not  only  by  their 
righteousness,    but    by   the    effort 


CHAPTER   V. 


65 


candle,  and  put  it  under  a 
bushel,  but  on  a  candlestick ; 
and  it  giveth  light  unto  all  that 
are  in  the  house. 

16    Let  your  light  so  shine 
before  men,  that  they  may  see 


which  that  righteousness  leads  them 
to  put  forth  in  disseminating  truth, 
—  truth,  not  so  much  a  system  of 
Christian  principles  as  an  efficacious 
life  from  Christ.  Jesus  declares 
himself  to  be  the  light  of  the  world. 
John  8  :  12.  His  followers  are  chil- 
dren of  light.  1  Thess.  5  :  5.  Mark 
as  very  important,  For  ye  were 
sometime  darkness,  but  now  are  ye 
light  in  the  Lord.  Eph.  5  :  8.  That 
was  the  true  light  which  lighteth 
every  man  that  cometh  into  the 
world.  John  1 :  9.  Jesus,  then,  is 
the  source  of  all  the  light  that 
shines  from  his  disciples.  Of  the 
world — Compare  Mark  1G  :  15.  A 
city  on  a  hill — As  a  city  so  located 
could  not  but  be  seen,  so  a  true  dis- 
ciple cannot  but  be  seen.  "  One  of 
the  most  striking  objects,"  says 
Stanley,  ' '  in  the  prospect  from  any 
of  these  hills,  especially  from  the 
traditional  Mount  of  the  Beatitudes, 
is  the  city  of  Safed,  placed  high  on  a 
bold  spur  of  the  Galilean  Anti-Leb- 
anon. Dr.  Robinson  has  done  much 
to  prove  that  Safed  itself  is  a  city 
of  modern  date.  But,  if  any  city  or 
fortress  existed  on  that  site  at  the 
time  of  the  Christian  era,  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  doubt  the  allusion  to  it,  in 
'the  city  lying  on  the  mountain 
top.'"  As  Jesus  is  known  to  have 
drawn  some  of  his  illustrations  from 
objects  toward  which  his  eye  was 
directed,  there  is  danger  lest  we  at- 
tempt to  account  for  all  his  illustra- 
tions in  the  same  way. 

15,  16.  The  obligation  of  Christ's 
disciples  to  let  their  light  shine  be- 
fore men  is  illustrated  by  the  use 
which  is  made  of  a  family  lamp, — 
the  correct  rendering  of  the  Greek. 
Men  act  appropriately,  consistently, 
putting  the  lighted  lamp  not  under 


your  good  works,  and  glorify 
your  Father  which  is  in  heaven. 
17  1"  Think  not  that  I  am 
come  to  destroy  the  law,  or  the 
prophets :  I  am  not  come  to 
destroy,  but  to  fulfil. 


a  bushel, — the  bushel,  the  family 
measure — but  on  a  candlestick, — the 
lamp-stand.  The  lamp,  that  is,  is 
put  where  it  will  do  that  for  which  it 
was  lighted.  Good  works — Not 
meritorious.  The  idea  of  merit  is 
not  embraced  in  the  words.  The 
glory  of  our  Father  must  be  the 
end.  The  bushel — Of  indolence,  of 
spurious  modesty,  of  unauthorized 
customs,  of  excessive  interest  in  the 
forms  of  religion  (ritualism),  of 
worldly  care.  The  churches  of 
Christ  are  the  great  preserving 
power  and  the  great  enlightening 
power ;  but  the  churches  can  be  such 
only  as  the  individual  members  are 
such.  The  evidence  of  discipleship 
is  twofold:  1.  The  righteousness 
which  is  described  in  vs.  3-12 ;  2. 
That  active  effort  to  purify  and  en- 
lighten the  world  which  is  described 
in  vs.  13-16.  Many  strangely  over- 
look the  latter.  Christ  gives  no 
preference  to  the  one  over  the  oth- 
er. He  can  have  little  righteousness 
who  makes  no  effort  to  make  others 
righteous.  Let  all  the  light  that 
now  shines  upon  the  world  from 
Christ  be  extinguished,  and  how 
dense  would  be  the  darkness  !  How 
intense  would  be  the  light  were 
every  Christian  what  he  ought  to 
be! 

17-20.  The  subject  of  the  sermon 
stated,  vs.  17-19  being  preliminary 
to  the  conciser  form  in  vs.  20. 

17.  Think  not — Why  this  special 
caution  ?  Did  the  Jews  suppose  that 
the  Messiah,  whenever  he  might 
come,  would  destroy  the  law  ?  There 
is  reason  to  believe  that  they  held 
the  opposite  opinion.  But  not  many 
of  the  hearers  of  this  sermon  had 
attained  to  the  conviction  that  the 
Messiah  had  appeared.     Yet  they 


66 


MATTHEW. 


18  For  verily  I  sa}^  unto  you, 
Till  heaven  and  earth  pass,  one 
jot  or  one  tittle  shall  in  no  wise 


knew  enough  of  the  preacher  to  be 
convinced  that  he  was  greatly  un- 
like the  teachers  whom  they  had 
been  accustomed  to  hear.  They 
were  therefore  in  danger  of  think- 
ing that  this  Jesus  purposed  to  de- 
stroy the  ancient  law.  Such  an 
opinion  would  itself  be  an  obstacle 
to  their  acceptance  of  him  as  the 
Messiah.  This  is  one  way  of  ac- 
counting for  the  use  of  the  words, 
Think  not.  But  they  may  have 
been  used  merely  as  an  impressive 
way  of  calling  attention  to  the  fact 
that,  in  founding  the  new  kingdom, 
he  would  not  destroy  that  law  which 
constituted  the  life  of  the  old.  See 
the  same  phrase,  10  :  34.  The  law 
or  the  prophets — The  entire  ancient 
economy  as  represented  in  the  writ- 
ten law,  both  moral  and  ceremonial, 
and  in  the  writings  of  the  prophets, 
which  two  leading  portions  of  the 
Old  Testament  stand  for  the  whole. 
To  fulfil — To  give  it  "  a  deeper  and 
holier  sense," — not  deeper  than  it 
really  had  before  he  came,  but 
deeper  than  those  who  lived  before 
he  came  perceived,  or  could  per- 
ceive. We  are  told  that  a  Greek 
writer  of  a  former  age  likens  the 
ancient  law  to  a  sketch,  which  the 
painter  does  not  destroy,  but  fills  up. 
Says  Tholuck  :  ' '  Christ  has  come 
to  perfect,  to  fill  up  with  religious 
knowledge  and  life,  all  that  in  the 
Old  Testament  revelation  existed  in 
outline."  Says  Luther  in  Tholuck : 
"  To  show  the  real  kernel  and  true 
significance  of  the  law,  that  men 
might  learn  what  it  is,  and  what  it 
requires."  The  rites  of  the  Mosaic 
law,  as  mere  rites,  are  abolished, 
but  as  an  idea  they  were  expressed 
by  Jesus  Christ  with  wonderful 
clearness  and  power.  His  vicarious 
sufferings  filled  up  the  sketch  drawn 
in  the  ritual  law.  But  he  also  ful- 
filled the  law  by  putting  his  follow- 
ers upon  a  course  which,  with  his 


pass  from  the  law,  till  all  be 
fulfilled. 

19     Whosoever      therefore 


gracious  help,  issues  in  the  attain- 
ment of  the  righteousness  which  the 
law  requires.  See  Rom.  8  :  4,  That 
the  righteousness  of  the  law  might 
be  fulfilled  in  us,  etc. ;  Rom.  3  :  31, 
Do  we  then  make  void  the  law 
through  faith?  God  forbid.  Yea, 
we  establish  the  law;  Rom.  10:  4, 
Ch)-ist  is  the  end  of  the  law  for 
righteousness  to  every  one  that  be- 
lieveth.  The  believer  in  Christ  does 
not  render  conscious  obedience  to 
the  law,  but  he  renders  conscious 
obedience  to  Christ,  and  as  Christ 
requires  all  that  the  law  requires, 
obedience  to  Christ  is  all  the  same 
as  obedience  to  the  law:  only  as 
rendered  to  Christ  obedience  in- 
volves the  great,  crowning  act  of 
abjuring  all  reliance  on  that  obedi- 
ence as  the  ground  of  justification. 
Thus  Christ  fulfils  the  law,  and  yet 
the  law  is  abolished. 

18.  Verily  I  say — A  solemn,  au- 
thoritative form,  "fixing,  as  it  were, 
the  stamp  of  truth  upon  the  asser- 
tion which  it  accompanied."  These 
things  saith  the  Amen  [the  Verily], 
the  faithful  and  true  Witness.  Rev. 
3  :  14.  Sometimes  the  affirmation  is 
made  still  more  solemn  by  repeti- 
tion, as  in  John  3  :  3,  Verily,  verily, 
I  say  unto  thee,  Except  a  man  be 
born  again.  One  jot — The  smallest 
letter  in  the  Hebrew  alphabet  ('). 
Tittle — The  little  horns  or  points 
such  as  may  be  seen  in  the  follow- 
ing Hebrew  letters,  1,  "l.1  Till 
heaven  and  earth — Not  while  time 
shall  last,  shall  the  least  require- 


l  It  has  been  remarked  already,  that  in 
the  time  of  Christ.not  the  Hebrew,but  the 
Septuagint  translation  of  the  Hebrew  (in- 
to Greek)  was  in  common  use.  Is  it  pos- 
sible that  this  reference  to  the  jot  and  the 
tittle  of  the  Hebrew  alphabet  rather  than 
to  any  part  of  the  Greek,  indicates  that 
our  Lord,  even  if  he  did  use  the  Septua- 
gint,  regarded  not  the  Greek  but  the  He 
brew  Scriptures  as  the  authoritative  word 
of  God  ? 


CHAPTER  V. 


67 


shall  break  one  of  these  least 
commandments,  and  shall 
teach  men  so,  he  shall  be  called 
the  least  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven :  but  whosoever  shall 
do  and  teach  them,  the  same 


ment  of  the  law  pass  away  without 
receiving  that  fulfilment  by  Christ 
which  constitutes  the  very  end  for 
which  it  was  given.  In  being  ful- 
filled in  Christ,  the  form  of  the  law 
as  mere  law  passes  away,  though 
even  then  the  substance  remains. 
In  Deut.  6 :  4  are  the  words,  The 
Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord.  By 
dropping  the  mere  point  or  horn  in 
the  last  letter  of  the  word  translated 
one,  the  word  would  mean  another ; 
and  so  the  Rabbins  were  accustomed 
to  say  that  if  t  (daleth)  were  changed 
into  ~>  (resh),  the  foundations  of  the 
world  would  be  shaken, — so  immu- 
table even  in  their  judgment  is  the 
law. 

19.  The  best  interpreters  are  not 
quite  agreed  what  is  the  meaning  of 
these  words.  The  general  senti- 
ment which  our  Lord  intended  to 
convey  seems  to  be  this :  In  that 
new  kingdom  which  I  am  to  found, 
will  be  required  an  estimate  of  the 
law  very  different  from  that  which 
prevails  among  the  scribes  and  Phar- 
isees. The  entire  law,  even  the 
least  things  in  it,  must  be  regarded 
as  of  importance.  Character  must 
be  estimated  according  to  the  esti- 
mate in  which  God's  commands  are 
held.  He  that  shall  break,  under- 
value, through  some  more  or  less 
needless  mistake  of  his  judgment, 
one  jot  or  one  tittle  of  the  law,  and 
shall  teach  men  so,  shall  be  regarded 
as  so  deficient  in  Christian  character 
that  he  must  be  considered  as  the 
least  of  my  subjects ;  but  he  that 
shall  do  and  teach  even  the  one  jot 
or  .the  one  tittle,  shall  be  regarded 
as  the  highest  among  my  subjects. 
Both  classes,  the  least  as  well  as 
the  greatest,  are  in  Messiah's  king- 
dom.    Both  are  attached  to  God's 


shall  be   called   great  in  the 
kingdom  of  heaven. 

20  For  I  say  unto  you,  That 
except  your  righteousness  shall 
exceed  the  righteousness  of  the 
scribes  and  Pharisees,  ye  shall 


commandments,  and  therefore  the 
righteousness  of  both  is  vastly  su- 
perior to  that  of  the  Pharisees,  but 
the  two  are  not  equal  in  righteous- 
ness. 

20.  The  subject  more  concisely 
expressed :  The  superior  character 
of  the  righteousness  required.  Your 
righteousness — Not  the  righteous- 
ness which  is  imputed  by  faith, 
though  that  is  the  foundation  of  this, 
but  personal  righteousness.  See 
note  on  vs.  6.  The  scribes — This 
class  of  persons  will  come  before  us 
so  often  in  our  study  of  the  Gospels 
that  some  knowledge  of  it  is  indis- 
pensable. The  scribes  were  the  most 
influential  persons  in  Palestine  in 
religious  affairs.  It  was  chiefly  by 
them  that  the  doctrinal  opinions  of 
most  of  the  Jews  were  shaped.  They 
were  the  custodians  and  interpreters 
of  the  law,  and  of  the  Jewish  relig- 
ious writings  generally.  Most  of  the 
scribes  of  earlier  times  were  good 
men;  as,  for  example,  Ezra.  See 
the  book  of  Ezra,  7 :  10.  The  one 
aim  of  those  early  scribes  was  to 
promote  reverence  for  the  law,  to 
make  it  the  ground-work  of  the  peo- 
ple's life.  They  would  write  noth- 
ing of  their  own,  through  fear  that 
less  worthy  words  should  be  raised 
to  a  level  with  those  of  the  oracles 
of  God.  They  carefully  studied  the 
Old  Testament,  and  laid  down  rules 
for  transcribing  it  with  the  most 
scrupulous  precision.  At  last  they 
fell  into  idolatry  of  the  letter,  and 
reverence  for  the  word  was  de- 
stroyed. The  words  of  the  scribes 
were  honored  above  the  law.  It  was 
a  greater  offence  to  offend  against 
them  than  against  the  law.  They 
were  as  wine  while  the  precepts  of 
the  law  were  as  water.     Thus  the 


68 


MATTHEW. 


in  no  case  enter  into  the  king- 
dom of  heaven. 

21  f  Ye  have  heard  that  it 
was  said  by  them  of  old  time, 
Thou  shalt  not  kill ;  and  who- 
soever shall  kill  shall  be  in 
danger  of  the  judgment : 


first  step  was  taken  toward  annulling 
the  commandments  for  the  sake  of 
their  own  traditions.  Ceremonial 
laws  became  far  more  important 
than  moral  laws,  and  some  of  the 
plainest  moral  duties  were  evaded. 
In  our  Lord's  time  had  accumulated 
a  vast  amount  of  scribe-learning , 
which  consisted  of  interpretations 
of  the  law  handed  down  from  sev- 
eral of  the  previous  ages, — tradi- 
tions. These  were  made  a  study  by 
Jewish  youth.  The  scribes  belonged 
to  the  party  of  the  Pharisees.  They 
sympathized  with  them,  not  with  the 
Sadducees.  Hence  they  are  often 
mentioned  together.  One  of  the  most 
distinguished  of  the  scribes  was 
Hillel,  born  about  112  B.C.,  of 
whom  it  was  said,  if  the  heavens 
were  parchment,  and  all  the  trees 
of  the  earth  pens,  and  all  the  sea 
ink,  it  would  not  be  enough  to  write 
down  his  wisdom.  Hypocrisy  was 
the  great  characteristic  of  the  scribes 
in  the  times  of  our  Lord. — Con- 
densed from  Smith's  Dictionary  of 
the  Bible.  Shall  exceed — 1.  In  quan- 
tity; 2.  In  quality.  In  no  case — 
Not  by  any  means.  It  is  implied  that 
if  they  shall  have  the  righteousness 
taught  by  Moses,  that  is,  in  the  ful- 
filled form  in  which  it  is  taught  by 
Christ,  they  will  be  members  of  the 
kingdom. 

Jesus  now  proceeds  to  illustrate 
the  righteousness  required.  His 
purpose  is,  not  to  disparage  the  law, 
but  to  exalt  it.  Observe  especially 
that  it  is  his  purpose  to  show  not 
only  how  much  more  comprehensive 
and  spiritual  it  is  than  the  scribes 
and  Pharisees  teach,  but  how  much 
more  so  than  even  ancient  and  sin- 


22  But  I  say  unto  3rou ,  That 
whosoever  is  angry  with  his 
brother  without  a  cause  shall 
be  in  danger  of  the  judgment : 
and  whosoever  shall  say  to  his 
brother,  Raca,  shall  be  in  dan- 
ger of  the  council :  but  whoso- 


cere  expounders  of  the  law  taught. 
May  the  Spirit  of  God  impress  upon 
our  hearts  these  rich  interpretations 
of  our  Lord,  that,  hungering  and 
thirsting  for  righteousness,  we  may 
be  filled. 

Illustrations.  —  Class  I. 

21.  First  illustration.  Ye  have 
heard — From  the  scribes  in  the  syn  - 
agogues  and  the  temple.  By  them 
—  To  them.  This  is  held  by  eminent 
scholars  as  demanded  by  usage  in 
Matthew  and  other  books  of  the  New 
Testament.  Even  the  English  reader 
must  be  struck  with  the  contrast 
thus  brought  out :  Said  to  them  of 
old  time,  but  I  say  unto  you.  Them 
of  old  time — The  people  of  the  time 
in  which  traditionary  interpretations 
of  the  law  began  to  be  taught.  Thou, 
shalt  not  kill — This  was  the  com- 
mand as  given  by  Jehovah  to  the 
people  through  Moses.  Whosoever 
shall  kill,  etc. — This  was  the  tradi- 
tionary, superficial  interpretation  of 
the  law  which  the  scribes  of  our 
Lord's  day  affirmed  had  been  taught 
to  the  people  in  former  times,  and 
which  they  themselves  were  accus- 
tomed to  urge  as  the  right  one.  The 
interpretation  made  disobedience  to 
the  law  consist  in  doing  the  mere 
outward  act.  It  was  making  the  law 
a  merely  civil  law.  He  that  actu- 
ally took  life  should  be  held  ac- 
countable. He  is  in  danger  of  the 
judgment — A  court  founded  by  Mo- 
ses (Deut.  16 :  18)  in  every  city, 
consisting  of  seven  judges,  with 
power  to  condemn  to  death. 

22.  Jesus  affirms  that  this  com- 
mandment has  a  deeper  meaning.  It 
is  more  than  a  civil  law.     It  em- 


CHAPTER  V. 


69 


ever  shall  say,  Thou  fool,  shall 
be  in  danger  of  hell-fire. 


braces  more  than  the  outward  act. 
It  forbids  even  anger,  that  state  of 
feeling  of  which  there  may  be  no 
proof  except  the  person's  own  con- 
sciousness ;  of  which,  even  if  it 
should  burst  out  in  hot  words,  the 
courts  would  take  no  cognizance. 
Raca — Worthless,  brainless.  Fool 
— Impious,  godless.  It  refers  to 
moral  characteristics  rather  than  to 
intellectual.  Many  suppose  that 
three  degrees  of  guilt  are  intended  : 
1.  The  lowest,  that  which  arises 
from  concealed  anger;  2.  That 
which  arises  from  anger  bursting 
out  in  the  opprobrious  word,  Raca ; 
3.  That  which  arises  from  a  still 
more  passionate  state,  and  showing 
itself  in  the  yet  more  severe  and 
contemptuous  term,  fool.  This  gra- 
dation in  guilt  is  connected  by  such 
interpreters  with  gradation  in  pun- 
ishment: 1.  That  which  could  be 
inflicted  by  the  judgment,  the  low- 
est court;  2.  By  the  council,  the 
Sanhedrim,  the  highest  court;  3. 
The  punishment  of  hell-fire.  From 
this  view  Dr.  Alexander  strongly  dis- 
sents, aflirming  that  it  is  difficult  to 
see  how  the  angry  utterance  of  fool 
indicates  greater  guilt  than  that  of 
Raca.  We  see  no  difficulty,  howev- 
er, in  the  usual  explanation.  "Ma- 
lignant "  anger,  as  Alexander 
calls  it,  is  not  affirmed,  but  cause- 
less anger.  This,  however  slight, 
exposes  to  punishment ;  and  whether 
it  is  greater  guilt  to  call  a  man  fool 
than  Raca  is  not  the  question.  The 
anger  which  leads  one  to  call  his 
brother  fool  may  be  greater  than  that 
which  makes  him  say  Raca,  and  that 
is  sufficient  to  save  the  common  in- 
terpretation at  this  point  from  incon- 
sistency. 

Hell  fire — The  original  is  in  this 
form, — the  gehenna  of  fire.  On  the 
west  and  the  south  sides  of  Jerusa- 
lem, not  on  the  south  only,  as  Barnes 
and  many  others  affirm,  is  a  deep 


23   Therefore  if  thou  bring 
thy  gift  to  the  altar,  and  there 


ravine  called  Valley  of  Hinnom,  in 
Hebrew,  Ge-Hinnom,  from  which 
gehenna  is  derived.  "On  the  south- 
ern brow,  overlooking  the  valley 
at  its  eastern  extremity,  Solomon 
erected  high  places  for  Moiech  (1 
Kings  11 :  7),  whose  horrid  rites 
were  revived  from  time  to  time  in 
the  same  vicinity  by  the  later  idola- 
trous kings.  Ahaz  and  Manasseh 
made  their  children  'pass  through 
the  fire '  in  this  valley  (2  Kings  16 : 
3 ;  2  Chron.  28  :  3 ;  33  :  6),  and  the 
fiendish  custom  of  infant  sacrifice 
to  the  fire-gods  seems  to  have  been 
kept  up  in  Tophet,  at  its  south-east- 
ern extremity,  for  a  considerable  pe- 
riod. To  put  an  end  to  these  abomi- 
nations the  place  was  polluted  by 
Josiah,  who  rendered  it  ceremoni- 
ally unclean  by  spreading  over  it 
human  bones  and  other  corruptions, 
from  which  time  it  appears  to  have 
become  the  common  cesspool  of  the 
city,  into  which  its  sewage  was  con- 
ducted, to  be  carried  off  by  the  wa- 
ters of  the  Kidron,  as  well  as  a  lay- 
stall" [dunghill]  "where  all  its  solid 
filth  was  collected." — Smith's  Dic- 
tionary. Barnes,  in  his  note  upon 
this  verse,  says  that  "it  was  neces- 
sary to  keep  fires  continually  burn- 
ing there."  This  statement,  made 
by  many  others  also,  rests  upon  very 
slender  authority.  Dr.  Samuel  C. 
Bartlett  says,  in  his  "Life  and  Death 
Eternal,"  "  Still  more  destitute  of 
foundation  is  the  assertion  by  Mr. 
Barnes  and  others,  that  'this  valley 
was  called  the  gehenna  of  fire.' " 

According  to  Dr.  Bartlett,  gehen- 
na did  not  have  in  the  time  of  Christ 
two  meanings,  a  primary  and  usual 
meaning  as  the  name  of  a  valley 
south  of  Jerusalem,  and  an  unusual 
and  secondary  or  figurative  mean- 
ing, denoting  the  place  of  punish- 
ment. It  had  but  one  meaning, 
punishment  in  the  future  ivorld, 
hell.     The  Jews  used  it  repeatedly 


70 


MATTHEW. 


rememberest  that  thy  brother 
hath  aught  against  thee  ; 


in  that  sense.  Even  Dr.  Alger 
(Unitarian),  in  his  "Doctrine  of  a 
Future  Life,"  says  that  "this  is  a 
fact  about  which  there  can  be  no 
question."  Dr.  Bartlett's  view  is 
supported  by  Prof.  E.  P.  Barrows, 
formerly  of  the  Theological  Semi- 
nary, Andover,  who  writes  to  the 
former,  that  it  appears  to  him  cer- 
tain that  in  our  Lord's  day  the  word 
gehenna  "had  come  in  well-estab- 
lished theological  usage — probably 
long  before  the  beginning  of  the 
Christian  era — to  signify  hell,  that 
is,  the  place  of  torment  for  the 
wicked ;  and  that  this  was  the  only 
sense  of  the  word." 

This  word,  hell-fire,  gehenna,  be- 
ing used  by  Christ  in  this  verse  to 
express  punishment  in  the  future 
world,  the  other  words,  judgment 
and  council,  must  be  used  to  express 
the  same,  but  in  less  degree.  That 
these  refer  to  future  punishment  is 
also  evident  from  the  fact  that  of 
such  violations  of  the  sixth  com- 
mandment no  Jewish  court  would 
take  cognizance.  The  courts  tried 
for  actual  murder,  not  for  anger. 
Without  a  cause — It  is  possible,  then, 
to  be  angry  without  sinning.  Anger 
is  ascribed  to  Jesus  (Mark  3:5); 
and  Paul  (Eph.  4 :  26)  says,  Be  ye 
angry  and  sin  not.  Even  the  term 
fool  maybe  used  without  sin ;  for  Je- 
sus (23  :  17, 19)  addresses  the  scribes 
and  Pharisees  as  fools.  Luke  24  :  25 
is  not  to  the  point,  for  in  the  Greek, 
fools,  addressed  to  his  disciples,  is 
not  the  same  word,  but  one  that  was 
often  used  in  a  milder  sense,  and 
there  it  means,  dull  in  understand- 
ing. We  may  interpret  the  words 
of  Jesus  too  literally.  The  right 
spirit  may  exist  even  when  the  word 
fool  is  used.  The  wrong  spirit  may 
exist  when  other  words  are  used,  or 
none  at  all.  Yet  it  must  be  confessed 
that  if  a  disciple  of  Christ  can  ad- 
dress, without  sin,  one  of  his  fellow - 


24   Leave  there  thy  gift  be- 
fore the  altar,  and  go  thy  way  ; 


men  in  the  terms  in  which  Jesus  ad- 
dressed the  Pharisees,  he  must  have 
attained  to  a  remarkable  degree  of 
that  righteousness  which  the  Sav- 
iour enjoins  in  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount. 

23,  24.  Therefore — The  practical 
application.  They  are  addressed  as 
Jews,  and  therefore  the  phraseology 
used  is  drawn  from  the  peculiar 
forms  of  Jewish  worship.  Thy  gift 
—Some  say,  "any  kind  of  gift, — 
sacrificial  or  eucharistic."  Others 
restrict  it  to  the  sacrificial.  The 
man  is  suposed  to  have  arrived  at 
the  altar,  but  just  as  he  is  about  to 
deliver  his  offering  to  the  priest,  he 
remembers,  not  that  he  has  some 
ground  of  complaint  against  his 
brother,  but  that  his  brother  has 
some  complaint,  not  necessarily 
some  ground  for  it,  against  himself. 
Instantly  he  must  suspend  this  act 
of  worship,  and  perform  a  duty, 
which,  for  the  time,  is  paramount. 
The  offering  of  the  gift  will  not  be 
acceptable  to  God  till  he  has  become 
reconciled  to  his  brother.  The  rec- 
onciliation is  not  supposed  to  be 
mutual.  The  offerer  is  under  obli- 
gation to  "remove  the  offence  and 
make  friendly  overtures  to  his  broth- 
er." This  is  Alford's  view.  Tholuck 
considers  the  person  addressed  to  be 
the  offender,  and  the  other  as  hav- 
ing a  just  ground  of  complaint.  So 
long  as  the  offerer  neglects  the  duty 
here  enjoined,  he  is  guilty  of  break- 
ing the  sixth  commandment.  The 
latter  is  the  view  more  commonly 
held.  We  think  that  both  may  be 
correct.  The  offerer  should  cease 
to  make  his  offering  in  case  either 
fact  is  remembered.  What  was  in- 
tended for  his  hearers  as  Jews  has 
been  appropriated,  as  Christ  meant 
it  should  be,  by  Christians;  "and 
so  arose  that  beautiful  custom  of  the 
early  ChurcL,  of  the  mutual  act  of 
forgiveness    among    members    of 


CHAPTER  V. 


71 


first  be  reconciled  to  thy  broth- 
er, and  then  come  and  offer 
thy  gift. 

25  Agree  with  thine  adver- 
sary quickly,  while  thou  art  in 
the  way  with  him  ;  lest  at  any 


Christian  families  before  the  cele- 
bration of  the  Holy  Communion." 


time  the  adversary  deliver  thee 
to  the  judge,  and  the  judge  de- 
liver thee  to  the  officer,  and 
thou  be  cast  into  prison. 

26   Verily  I  say  unto  thee, 
Thou  shalt  by  no  means  come 


The  altar — God  commanded  Moses 
to  make  two  altars  :  1.  The  altar  of 
burnt  offering,  on  which  a  fire  was 
required  to  be  kept  constantly  burn- 
ing, which  is  supposed  to  be  "the 
symbol  and  token  of  the  perpetual 
worship  of  Jehovah."  This  stood 
outside  the  temple.  2.  The  altar  of 
incense.  This  was  also  called  the 
golden  altar,  whereas  the  other  was 
the  brazen.  It  stood  in  the  Holy 
Place.  The  former  is  the  altar  to 
which  the  Saviour  refers.  The  word 
altar  is  very  improperly  applied  in 
some  Christian  churches  to  the  com- 
munion-table or  to  any  other  part 
of  a  Christian  house  of  worship. 
Not  one  instance  of  such  a  use  is  to 
be  found  in  the  New  Testament.  In 
Heb.  13  :  10 it  is  said,  indeed,  Wehave 
an  altar,  whereof  they  have  no  right 
to  eat  which  serve  the  tabernacle, 
but,  as  Dr.  Ripley  remarks  in  his 
excellent  Notes  on  Hebrews,  "  The 


altar  which  believers  in  Jesus  are 
here  represented  as  having  is  the 
cross  on  which 
our  Lord  en- 
dured his  sacri- 
ficial and  propi- 
tiatory death,  or 
offered  up  him- 
self as  our  sacri- 
fice. It  is  here 
employed  as  the 
visible  emblem 
of  the  Christian 
religion.  ...  It 
is  indeed  only 
by  a  figure  of 
speech,  though 
a  very  easy  and 
appropriate  fig- 
ure, that  it  is 
called  an  altar." 
For  Protestants  to  speak  of  the 
communion-table,  or  of  that  part 
of  the  building  where  it  is  located, 
as  the  altar,  is  simply  an  imita- 
tion of  the  language  of  Romanism, 
borrowed  from  that  dispensation 
which  was  only  a  shadow  of  good 
things  to  come. 

25,  26.  Jesus  here  teaches,  in  lan- 
guage drawn  from  the  law,  that  rec- 
onciliation with  one  whom  we  have 
offended,  should  be  immediate.  Lit- 
erally, the  language  is  tantamount 
to  this  :  If  you  are  prosecuted  for 
debt,  effect  a  settlement  with  the 
plaintiff,  your  creditor,  your  adver- 
sary, while  you  are  on  the  way  with 
him  to  the  magistrate,  lest  coming 
before  the  magistrate  you  shall  be 
thrown  by  Ms  decision  into  prison 
to  suffer  the  penalty  of  the  law. 
Among  the  Jews,  imprisonment  for 
debt  could  not  be  prolonged  beyond 
"the   seventh  year,  or  at  farthest 


72 


MATTHEW. 


out  thence,  till  thou  hast  paid 
the  uttermost  farthing. 

27  %  Ye  have  heard  that  it 
was  said  b}^  them  of  old  time, 
Thou  shalt  not  commit  adul- 
tery : 


the  year  of  jubilee."  It  has  been 
affirmed  that  "in  later  times  the 
sabbatical  or  jubilee  release  was  su- 
perseded by  a  law,  probably  intro- 
duced by  the  Romans,  by  which  the 
debtor  was  liable  to  be  detained  in 
prison  until  the  full  discharge  of  the 
debt."  This  is  not  considered  by  all 
as  certain.  This  26th  verse  has  been 
quoted  in  proof,  but  it  does  not  quite 
prove  it.  Jesus  is  not  here  referring 
specially  and  exclusively  to  the  duty 
of  obeying  the  sixth  commandment 
by  being  willing  to  satisfy  the  plain- 
tiffin  a  case  of  prosecution  for  debt. 
He  may  intend  to  include  even  such 
a  case,  but  he  speaks  more  compre- 
hensively. He  means  to  enforce  the 
duty  of  effecting,  immediately,  a  set- 
tlement with  any  man  between  whom 
and  yourself  is  a  difficulty,  of  what- 
ever kind  it  may  be.  Life  is  brief, 
and  punishment  for  cherished  sin  is 
certain.  The  injured  party  should 
not  be  allowed,  by  your  delay,  to 
confront  you  in  the  next  world.  You 
should  agree  with  him  while  you  are 
in  the  way  with  him, — while  both 
are  on  their  journey  together  toward 
the  judgment-seat  of  Christ.  Till 
thou  hast  paid,  etc. — "In  the  case 
of  any  book  but  the  Bible,  criticism 
would  have  taken  the  meaning  of 
this  passage  to  be  simply  that  the 
judicial  proceedings  were  to  be  exe- 
cuted against  the  offender  according 
to  the  utmost  rigor  of  the  law." — 
Tholuck.  But  from  these  words  in 
part  the  Church  of  Rome  forces  the 
doctrine  of  purgatory,  and  a  certain 
class  of  Universalists  the  doctrine 
of  restoration.  The  impossibility 
of  paying  the  debt  is  the  meaning 
which  Matt.  25  :  46  and  many  other 
passages  require.  Farthing — "A 
small   brass    coin    equal    to    two 


28  But  I  say  unto  you,  That 
whosoever  looketh  on  a  woman 
to  lust  after  her,  hath  commit- 
ted adultery  with  her  already 
in  his  heart. 

29  And  if  thy  right  eye  of- 


mites,"  or  about  two-fifths  of  one 
cent. 

27,28.  Second  illustration.  They 
had  also  heard  from  the  scribes  that 
it  was  formerly  said,  Thou  shalt  not 
commit  adultery.  Such  was  the 
prohibition  of  the  law  itself.  The 
superficial  interpretation  of  it  by  the 
scribes  is  to  be  supposed,  though  it 
is  not  expressed ;  for,  in  these  illus- 
trations generally,  Jesus  is  not  criti- 
cising the  law,  but  the  meaning 
which  the  scribes  told  the  people 
had  been  given  it  from  the  earliest 
times.  We  must  suppose,  there- 
fore, that,  in  this  illustration,  the 
Saviour  is  aiming  his  words  against 
the  notion  that  infraction  of  the  sev- 
enth commandment  consists  only  of 
the  overt  act.  Jesus  affirms  that  even 
the  use  of  the  eye  for  the  purpose 
of  inflaming  lust  is  a  violation  of  the 
command.  This  ampler  breadth  of 
meaning  must  be  regarded  as  for- 
bidding all  impure  associations  of 
thought,  and  contact  with  all  litera- 
ture, with  all  paintings,  with  all 
sculpture,  with  all  theatrical  exhi- 
bitions, that  are  adapted  to  produce 
them.  The  success  of  the  theatre, 
for  any  considerable  period,  de- 
pends upon  its  resting  on  a  basis  of 
licentiousness.  A  moral  theatre 
would  soon  get  smitten  with  paraly- 
sis and  die.  Jesus  here  affirms  that 
a  single,  momentary  act  of  impurity, 
in  the  heart,  is  a  violation  of  the 
law.  This  form  of  inward  unright- 
eousness has  doubtless  always  been 
a  very  prevalent  sin,  and  actual  in- 
fraction of  the  seventh  command- 
ment has  also  been  fearfully  preva- 
lent, both  in  the  higher  and  the  lower 
classes  of  society.  The  churches  of 
Christ  should  give  no  quarter  to  the 
sin. 


CHAPTER    V. 


73 


feud  thee,  pluck  it  out,  and 
cast  it  from  thee  :  for  it  is  prof- 
itable for  thee  that  one  of  thy 
members  should  perish,  and 
not  that  thy  whole  body  should 
be  cast  into  hell. 

30  And  if  tlry  right  hand  of- 
fend thee,  cut  it  off,  and  cast 
it  from  thee  :  for  it  is  profitable 
for  thee  that  one  of  thy  mem- 


29,  30.  Such  unrighteousness 
must  be  subdued,  however  difficult, 
or  the  punishment  of  the  future  life 
must  be  suffered.  This  is  taught  in 
figurative  language.  It  must  be 
figurative,  for  mutilation  of  an  eye 
or  a  hand  would  not  necessarily  re- 
sult in  greater  purity  of  heart.  It 
might  make  a  bad  matter  worse,  by 
giving  birth  to  intenser  self-right- 
eousness. Right  eye  .  .  .  right 
hand — Selected  because  they  are 
almost  universally  prized  above  the 
left.  Offend — Not  in  the  modern 
sense  of  displease,  but,  to  cause 
thee  to  sin.  Pluck  out  .  .  .  cut  off 
.  .  .  cast  it  from  thee — 1.  Resolute- 
ly deny  yourself  the  object  desired ; 
2.  Cease  desiring  it.  To  aid  you  in 
subduing  desire  for  a  wrong  object, 
cut  the  last  and  the  least  tie  of  con- 
nection between  yourself  aad  it.  But 
it  is  not  possible,  in  this  world,  to 
dissolve  connection  between  every 
tempting  object  and  one's  self.  The 
point  of  our  Saviour's  command, 
therefore,  lies  in  the  extinction  of 
the  desire  for  it.  Profitable — For 
your  advantage.  Jesus  had  no  hesi- 
tancy in  sometimes  presenting  this 
lower  view.  It  is  by  no  means, 
however,  that  selfish  view  which 
has  been  called  the  "utilitarian"; 
namely,  that  the  virtue  of  an  act 
consists  in  its  being  useful  to  the 
doer.  It  will  be  profitable  to  lose 
an  object  which  may  be  so  strongly 
desired  that  parting  from  it  may 
seem  like  parting  with  a  right  eye, 
rather  than  to  lose  one's  entire  self 
by  being  cast  into  hell.  ffell—Ge- 
7 


bers  should  perish,  and  not  that 
thy  whole  body  should  be  cast 
into  hell. 

31  It  hath  been  said,  Who- 
soever shall  put  away  his  wife, 
let  him  give  her  a  writing  of 
divorcement : 

32  But  I  say  unto  3^011,  That 
whosoever  shall  put  away  his 
wife,  saving  for  the  cause  of 


henna,  concerning  the  meaning  of 
which  see  note  on  vs.  22,  second  and 
third  paragraphs. 

31,  32.  Third  illustration.  It 
hath  been  said,  must  be  understood 
as  in  the  previous  cases.  The  law  of 
Moses  concerning  divorce  (Deut. 
24  :  1,  2)  is  as  follows  :  When  a  man 
hath  taken  a  wife,  and  married  her, 
and  it  come  to  pass  that  she  find  no 
favor  in  his  eyes,  because  he  hath 
found  some  uncleanness  in  her :  then 
let  him  write  her  a  bill  of  divorce- 
ment, and  give  it  in  her  hand,  and 
send  her  out  of  his  house.  And 
when  she  is  departed  out  of  his 
house,  she  may  go  and  be  another 
man's  wife.  But  I  say  unto  you, 
miist  not  be  understood  as  implying 
that  Jesus  here  sets  himself  in  op- 
position to  Moses.  What  he  still 
opposes  is  the  loose  interpretation 
given  the  law  by  scribes  and  Phari- 
sees, that  interpretation  being  im- 
plied, not  expressed.  Concerning 
the  opinions  of  the  Jews  upon  di- 
vorce and  concerning  the  nature  of 
the  Mosaic  requirement  more  will 
be  said  in  considering  19  :  3-9.  Prof. 
Hovey  says  upon  the  verses  before 
us,  in  his  treatise  on  "The  Scriptural 
Law  of  Divorce  "  :  "  For  a  husband 
to  put  away  his  wife,  by  giving  her  a 
bill  of  divorce  according  to  the  Jew- 
ish law,  for  any  other  reason,  is  to 
authorize  and  tempt  her  to  commit 
adultery  by  marrying  another.  And 
of  this  sin  he  is  guilty,  whether  the 
wife  is  ever  married  the  second  time 
or  not.  But  while  the  passage  before 
us  teaches  by  implication  that  a  Jew 


74 


MATTHEW 


fornication,  causeth  her  to  com- 
mit adultery :  and  whosoever 
shall  marry  her  that  is  divorced 
committeth  adultery. 

33   %  Again,  ye  have  heard 


might  put  away  his  wife  without 
sin,  provided  she  was  an  adulteress, 
and  marry  another  woman,  it  does 
not  teach  that  a  wife,  thus  divorced 
for  good  cause,  had  a  right  to  marry 
again.  According  to  the  law  of 
Moses  she  was  to  be  put  to  death, 
and  also  her  paramour.  And,  though 
this  law  was  not  rigidly  enforced  at 
the  time  of  Christ,  it  may  be  pre- 
sumed that  an  adulteress  was  gen- 
erally unable  to  take  position  again 
as  a  lawful  wife  by  marriage  to  a 
second  husband.  It  appears,  there- 
fore, that  the  process  of  divorce, 
in  order  to  be  valid  before  God, 
must  be  a  criminal  process,  and 
that  only  crime  can  justify  it.  When 
it  rests  on  any  other  ground,  it  is 
without  effect;  the  parties  remain 
husband  and  wife  as  before." 

Causeth  her  to  commit  adultery — 
Dr.  Conant's  view  of  these  words  dif- 
fers from  Dr.  Hovey's.  He  says  :  "  I 
understand  this  as  equivalent  to 
makes  her  an_  adulteress,  in  the  same 
sense  in  which  it  is  said  (1  John  5  : 
10),  he  that  believeth  not  God  hath 
made  him  a  liar;  not  that  God 
thereby  becomes  a  liar,  or  that  she 
becomes  an  adulteress,  but  simply 
is  treated  as  such.  By  repudiating 
her,  for  which  the  only  just  cause 
was  adultery,  he  makes  her  appear 
as  one  guilty  of  that  crime."  Dr. 
Hovey's  explanation  is  the  common 
one. 

33-37.  Fourth  illustration.  In 
Lev.  19  :  12  are  the  words,  And  ye 
shall  not  swear  by  my  name  falsely ; 
and  in  Num.  30  :  2,  If  a  man  vow  a 
vow  unto  the  Lord,  or  swear  an 
oath  to  bind  his  soul  with  a  bond, 
he  shall  not  break  his  word,  he  shall 
do  according  to  all  that  proceedeth 
out  of  his  mouth.  These,  probably, 
are  the  verses,  condensed,  which 


that  it  hath  been  said  by  them 
of  old  time,  Thou  shalt  not  for- 
swear thyself,  but  shalt  perform 
unto  the  Lord  thine  oaths  : 
34  But  I  say  unto  you,  Swear 

Jesus  represents  the  scribes  as  quot- 
ing. Some  say  that  thou  shalt  per- 
form unto  the  Lord  thine  oaths  is 
the  "weakening"  interpretation  of 
the  scribes.  Thus  understood,  the 
meaning  is,  Oaths  in  which  the  name 
of  God  occurs  ought  to  be  per- 
formed; but  oaths  by  heaven,  by 
earth,  by  Jerusalem,  by  the  head, 
need  not  be  kept.  It  is  better,  how- 
ever, to  regard  these  words,  equally 
with  the  others,  as  quoted,  though 
freely,  from  the  law,  and  the  super- 
ficial explanation  of  the  scribes  as 
understood.  The  result  is  the  same. 
That  which,  in  the  scribes  and  Phar- 
isees, wore  the  appearance  of  special 
reverence  for  God,  indicated  the 
existence  of  more  than  common  ir-  . 
reverence.  "Aben  Ezra  [1170  A.". 
D.]  speaks  of  the  practice  of  swear- 
ing as  universal  in  his  day,  so  that 
he  says,  men  swear  daily  countless 
times,  and  swear  that  they  have  not 
sworn."  Thomson  says  :  "  This 
people  are  fearfully  profane.  Every- 
body curses  and  swears  when  in  a 
passion.  No  people  that  I  have  ever 
known  can  compare  with  these  Ori- 
entals for  profaneness  in  the  use  of 
the  names  and  attributes  of  God. 
The  evil  habit  seems  inveterate  and 
universal.  .  .  .  The  people  now  use 
the  very  same  sort  of  oaths  that  are 
mentioned  and  condemned  by  our 
Lord.  They  swear  by  the  head,  by 
their  life,  by  heaven,  and  by  the 
temple,  or,  what  is  in  its  place,  the 
church.  The  forms  of  cursing  and 
swearing,  however,  are  almost  in- 
finite, and  fall  on  the  pained  ear  all 
day  long."  Swearing  among  the 
Jews  in  the  time  of  our  Lord  was 
also  very  common.  It  is  not,  then, 
merely  against  false  swearing,  per- 
jury, that  our  Lord  protests,  but 
against  "evasions  of  conscience." 


CHAPTER  V, 


n 


not  at  all ;  neither  by  heaven  ; 
for  it  is  God's  throne  : 

35  Nor  by  the  earth  ;  for  it 
is  his  footstool :  neither  b}^  Je- 
rusalem ;  for  it  is  the  city  of 
the  great  King. 


34,  35.  Swear  not  at  all — Is  Christ 
here  condemning  all  oaths  whatever, 
or  is  he  condemning  oaths  of  a  cer- 
tain class?  In  no  case  is  the  rule, 
Compare  Scripture  with  Scripture, 
more  important.  Without  such  com- 
parison, the  conclusion  of  the  Qua- 
kers is  inevitable.  Neglect  of  the 
rule  leads  them  to  believe  as  strong- 
ly that  Christ  does  not  require  bap- 
tism in  water  and  the  commemora- 
tion of  the  Lord's  death  by  the  use 
of  bread  and  wine,  as  it  leads  them 
to  believe  that  he  does  require  total 
abstinence  from  oaths.  What  an- 
swer should  be  given  to  the  question 
may  be  apparent  from  the  follow- 
ing considerations  :  a.  There  were 
oaths  in  ancient  times  which  the  Au- 
thor of  the  Bible  commanded.  See 
Ex.  22:  11;  Deut.  6 :  13;  10:20; 
Isa.  65  :  16.  b.  The  New  Testament 
represents  God  himself  as  swearing 
by  himself.  Heb.  6  :  13.  c.  Jesus 
allowed  himself  to  be  put  under  oath 
by  the  high  priest.  26  :  63,  64.  d. 
Paul  used  the  oath.  Gal.  1 :  20 ;  1 
Cor.  15  :  31  (the  latter  not  so  evi- 
dent in  the  English  as  in  the  Greek) . 
e.  It  is  difficult  to  see  anything  in 
the  nature  of  the  oath  which  is  sin- 
ful. /.  After  appearing  to  forbid  all 
oath-taking  whatever,  Jesus  speci- 
fies;  and  what  does  he  specify? 
Swearing  by  heaven,  by  the  earth, 
by  Jerusalem,  by  the  head.  Swear- 
ing by  God  is  not  specified,  which  is 
very  remarkable  if  he  intended  to 
include  it,  universally,  in  the  gen- 
eral prohibition,  Swear  not  at  all. 
From  these  considerations  it  may  be 
inferred  that  the  words  not  at  all 
must  be  taken  with  limitation.  For 
it  is  God's  throne — You  are  as  truly 
culpable,  therefore,  as  if  you  should 
swear  by  God  himself.  His  footstool 


36  Neither  shalt  thou  swear 
by  thy  head,  because  thou  canst 
not  make  one  hair  white  or 
black. 

37  But  let  your  communica- 
tion be,  Yea,  yea  ;  Nay,  naj^ : 


— Equally  to  be  blamed  therefore. 
The  city  of  the  great  King — Beauti- 
ful for  situation,  the  joy  of  the  whole 
earth,  is  Mount  Zion,  on  the  sides 
of  the  north,  the  city  of  the  great 
King.  Psalm  48  :  2.  As  they  them- 
selves held  that  Jerusalem  was,  fig- 
uratively, the  dwelling-place  of  Je- 
hovah, the  irreverence  of  daily 
swearing  by  Jerusalem  was  not  es- 
sentially less  than  that  of  swearing 
by  Jehovah. 

36.  According  to  Alexander,  after 
a  few  earlier  expositors,  the  reason 
given  against  swearing  by  the  head 
is  equivalent  to  this  :  ' '  Thou  canst 
not  make  (or  bring  into  existence 
even)  one  hair  (whether)  white  or 
black.  It  is  then  a  denial  of  man's 
power,  not  to  change  the  color  of 
his  hair,  which  is  continually  done 
by  artificial  means,  but  to  produce 
one  of  any  color,  which,  however 
trivial  the  effect  may  be,  is  a  crea- 
tive act."  As  has  been  remarked, 
' '  our  Lord  did  not  refer  to  artificial 
but  to  natural  changes  :  this  is  seen 
from  the  fact  that  he  mentions  also 
the  white  hair,  that  of  age.  How  mis- 
erable, then,  is  the  observation  of  Ot- 
tius,  that  Christ  is  alluding  to  Her- 
od, who,  according  to  the  account 
of  Josephus,  had  the  vanity  to  dye 
hishair." — Tholuck.  The  meaning 
is  simply  this,  thou  art  entirely  de- 
pendent on  God,  as  even  thine  ina- 
bility to  control  the  color  of  a  hair 
of  thy  head  shows.  It  is  essentially 
the  same,  therefore,  to  swear  by 
your  head  as  to  swear  by  God. 
Using  such  an  oath,  then,  on  every 
trivial  occasion,  is  as  truly  a  sin  as 
to  use  on  trivial  occasions  the  name 
of  God. 

37.  Your  communication — This 
must  be  explained  in  harmony  with 


76 


MATTHEW 


for  whatsoever   is  more  than 
these  cometh  of  evil. 

38  IT  Ye  have  heard  that  it 
hath  been  said,  An  eye  for  an 
eye,  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth  : 


the  explanation,  already  given,  of 
the  words,  Swear  not  at  all.  This, 
therefore,  must  mean,  Your  commu- 
nication in  ordinary,  daily  life.  Ab- 
stain wholly  from  profane  swearing. 
It  is  a  rule  for  the  regulation  of  pri- 
vate life.  "  The  true  oath  consists 
in  the  simple  asseveration,  uttered 
in  perfect  consciousness  and  under 
a  sense  of  the  presence  of  God,  be- 
fore him  and  in  him." — Lange.  Com- 
eth of  evil — Either  of  evil  in  the  ab- 
stract, or  of  him  who  is  the  source 
of  all  evil,  the  devil, — probably  the 
former. 

Though  the  judicial  oath  is  not 
here  condemned,  yet  even  that  has 
been  used  with  such  frequency  as  to 
give  it  oftentimes  substantially  the 
character  of  a  profane  oath.  It  is 
desirable  that  judicial  oaths  be 
greatly  diminished  in  number. 

38.  Fifth  illustration — It  should 
still  be  kept  in  mind  that  Jesus  is 
illustrating  the  righteousness  which 
he,  as  the  fulfiller  of  the  law,  requires. 
An  eye  for  an  eye,  etc. — This  was 
the  requirement  of  the  law.  See 
Ex.  21 :  24;  Lev.  24 :  20;  Deut.  19  : 
21.  The  form  of  the  law  is  derived 
from  what  has  been  called  the  lex 
talionis ;  that  is,  that  law  which 
prevailed  in  the  ruder  form  of  soci- 
ety, by  which  the  injured  person 
retaliated  upon  the  injurer  by  in- 
flicting upon  him  the  same  kind  of 
suffering  as  he  had  himself  received. 
But  while  the  form  of  the  law  was 
in  imitation  of  the  lex  talionis,  there 
is  no  evidence  that  the  execution 
of  the  law  was  generally  in  accord- 
ance with  the  form.  The  inten- 
tion was  considered  as  met  if  the 
punishment  was  in  proportion  to 
the  offence.  The  interpretation  to 
which  the  superficial  righteousness 
of  the  scribes  led,  was  such  as  to 


39  But  1  say  unto  you,  That 
ye  resist  not  evil,  but  whoso- 
ever shall  smite  thee  on  thy 
right  cheek,  turn  to  him  the 
other  also. 


encourage  the  spirit  of  revenge  both 
in  necessary  resort  to  law  and  in 
private  life.  But  was  not  that  the 
very  spirit  of  the  Mosaic  legisla- 
tion? Nothing  is  more  contrary  to 
the  fact.  The  lex  talionis,  private 
revenge,  had  long  been  the  only 
principle  by  which  men  had  been 
governed.  The  law  of  Moses  took 
away  the  right  of  private  revenge. 
It  gave  the  right  of  punishment  to 
the  civil  magistrate.  It  was,  there- 
fore, a  rebuke  to  the  spirit  of  re- 
venge. See  Lev.  19  :  18 ;  Prov.  24  : 
29  ;  Lam.  3  :  27-30.  The  Old  Tes- 
tament itself  confutes,  therefore,  the 
slander  uttered  by  Theodore  Parker 
against  the  character  of  the  Mosaic 
legislation.  The  law,  Eye  for  eye, 
was  a  public  enactment  intended  to 
repress  crime,  and  is  the  basis  of 
all  human  government.  The  Jews, 
however,  as  Ave  have  reason  to  be- 
lieve, seldom  resorted  to  the  law  in 
the  right  spirit.  The  law  was  just. 
While  as  a  general  thing  it  required 
its  penalties  to  be  used,  it  did  not 
forbid  occasional  forgiveness  for  a 
personal  wrong,  and  it  never  justi- 
fied the  use  of  its  penalties  in  a 
spirit  of  revenge. 

39.  But  I  say — As  before,  placing 
himself  in  opposition  to  the  scribes, 
not  in  opposition  to  the  law.  He 
applies  his  higher  view  of  the  law 
to  four  cases.  Resist  not  evil — 
We  arc  required  to  resist  the  devil 
and  all  moral  evil.  The  meaning 
is,  resist  not  "a  common,  unpro- 
voked insult."  Smite  thee  on  thy 
rigid  cheek,  etc.,  must  not  be 
pressed  with  slavish  literalness.  It 
is  conceivable  that  even  the  spirit 
of  revenge  might  prompt  a  man  to 
turn  the  other  cheek.  Jesus  was 
struck  by  one  of  the  officers  with 
the  palm  of  the  hand,  and  turned 


CHAPTER  V. 


77 


40  And  if  any  man  will  sue 
thee  at  the  law,  and  take  away 
thy  coat,  let  him  have  thy  cloak 
also. 


the  other  cheek,  not  literally,  hut  by 
the  gentleness  with  which  he  bore 
it.  John  18:  22-23.  Paul  was 
smitten  on  the  mouth  at  the  com- 
mand of  the  high  priest,  and,  "  in 
the  grace  with  which  he  recovered 
his  self-possession,  the  frankness 
with  which  he  acknowledged  his 
error,"  he  shews  that  he  himself 
felt  that  in  the  quick  outburst  of 
the  words,  God  shall  smite  thee, 
thou  whited  wall,  he  had  not  turned 
the  other  cheek.  "  A  blow  on  the 
cheek  was  the  utmost  mark  of  con- 
tempt, such  as  few  would  dare  to 
inflict  on  any  one  but  a  slave."  The 
Saviour's  direction,  then,  amounts 
to  this  :  Do  not  avenge  an  insult ; 
bear  it  with  gentleness ;  suffer 
double  rather  than  retaliate.  Go- 
ing to  law  for  the  attainment  of  our 
rights  is  not  always  wrong,  though 
there  are  many  cases  in  which  the 
disciples  of  Christ  better  suffer  even 
from  men  of  the  world  than  to  do 
so.  That  Christians,  members  of 
the  same  church,  should  go  to  law 
with  one  another,  either  in  pagan 
countries  or  Christian,  is  contrary 
to  the  law  of  Jesus  Christ,  revealed 
through  the  apostle  Paul :  1  Cor.  6  : 
1-7. 

40.  Second  case.  Rather  than 
indulge  in  that  spirit  of  retaliation 
which  the  false  interpretation  of 
the  scribes  was  continually  foster- 
ing, they  should  be  willing  to  give 
up  the  cloak  (the  outside  garment 
which  the  poor  used  as  a  covering 
by  night,  Ex.  22:  26,  27),  to  him 
who  would  wrong  them  of  the  coat, 
— the  under  garment  worn  next  the 
skin.  Do  not  indulge  in  bitterness 
toward  him  who  would  invade  that 
right  concerning  which  men  are  so 
sensitive,  —  the  right  of  property. 
This  is  a  case  which  too  frequently 
occurs. 

7* 


41  And  whosoever  shall 
compel  thee  to  go  a  mile,  go 
with  him  twain. 

42  Give  to  him  that  asketh 


41.  Third  case.  Compel  thee  to 
go — Impress  thee.  Simon  was, 
perhaps,  compelled,  impressed,  by 
legal  authority,  to  aid  in  bearing 
the  cross.  27 :  32.  The  original 
word  was  derived  from  the  Persian. 
"Cyrus,  or,  according  to  Herodotus, 
Xerxes,  was  the  first  to  establish 
relays  of  horses  and  couriers  at 
certain  distances  on  all  the  great 
roads,  in  order  that  the  royal  letters 
and  messages  might  be  transmitted 
with  the  greatest  possible  speed, 
These  "  [public  couriers]  "•  had  au- 
thority to  press  into  their  service 
men,  horses,  ships,  or  anything  that 
came  in  their  way,  which  might 
serve  to  hasten  their  journey.'5  A 
similar  system  had  been  introduced 
by  the  Roman  government  into 
Palestine,  but  it  was  very  obnoxious 
to  the  Jews.  Some  think  that 
Jesus  refers  not  to  legal  requisi- 
tions, but  to  "  acts  of  constraint  in 
private  life,"  taking  his  phraseol- 
ogy, however,  from  the  well-known 
practice  of  the  Roman  government. 
The  duty  enjoined  is,  be  ready  to 
yield  to  the  exaction,  governmental 
or  private,  which  one  may  make 
upon  you,  even  to  doubling  your 
service,  rather  than  to  manifest  re- 
venge. 

42.  Fourth  case.  A  literal  inter- 
pretation of  these  words  would  be  a 
false  one,  and  acting  accordingly 
would  multiply  beggars,  vagabonds, 
and  knaves.  Sympathy  should  be 
neither  hoarded  nor  wasted.  An 
enlightened  judgment  and  a  loving 
heart  will  save  us  from  turning 
away  the  asker  and  the  borroAver, 
even  if  their  demands  are  a  little 
extravagant,  rather  than  indulge 
toward  them  impatience  and  fretful- 
ness. 

These  four  cases  of  the  applica- 
tion of  the  true  spirit  of  the  law, 


78 


MATTHEW. 


thee,  and  from  him  that  would 
borrow  of  thee  turn  not  thou 
away. 

43   f  Ye  have  heard  that  it 
hath    been    said,    Thou    shalt 


An  eye  for  an  eye,  show  bow  deli- 
cate and  far-reaching  is  the  right- 
eousness to  which  Jesus  would 
bring  the  Avorld.  Notice  the  grada- 
tion from  gross  personal  insult  to 
mere  asking  and  borrowing. 

43,  44.  Sixth  illustration.  Love 
thy  neighbor — Lev.  19  :  18.  This 
was  the  law.  The  "outrageous" 
addition  by  the  scribes  was,  Hate 
thine  enemy.  Christ  brings  out  the 
long-obscured  meaning  of  the  law 
by  teaching  them,  in  opposition  to 
the  scribes,  that  they  must  love  their 
enemies,  etc.  But  did  not  the  law 
mean  by  neighbor,  primarily,  the 
Jews,  and  only  the  Jews?  Notice 
in  the  verse  from  which  the  law  is 
quoted  the  evident  allusion  to  Jews  : 
Thou  shalt  not  avenge,  nor  bear 
any  grudge  against,  the  children  of 
thy  people,  but  thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself.  Did  the  law, 
then,  command  Jews  to  love  only 
Jews?  Such  is  the  representation 
of  those  who  take  pleasure  in  berat- 
ing the  entire  Jewish  economy. 
Of  course,  and  with  perfect  propri- 
ety, the  primary  reference  is  to  the 
duty  of  loving  their  own  people, 
but  this  requisition  was  intended  to 
discipline  them  into  love  for  others 
also.  It  contains  no  intimation  that 
their  love  was  to  be  restricted  to 
Jews.  Hate  thine  enemy — Not  for- 
eigners only,  but  any  one,  even  a 
Jew.  But  Christ  teaches  that  they 
are  not  only  not  to  retaliate,  but  are 
to  cherish  the  spirit  of  love  toward 
the  wrong-doer.  But  their  love 
must  not  be  the  mere  disposition ; 
the  disposition  must  be  acted  out  in 
praying  for  him.  This  does  not 
imply  that  we  are  to  be  indifferent 
to  the  sin  of  the  wrong-doer.  Our 
enemies  are  to  be  loved  in  the  same 
sense   in  which   God  loves   them. 


love  thy  neighbour,  and  hate 
thine  enemy. 

44  But  I  say  unto  you,  Love 
your  enemies,  bless  them  that 
curse  you,  do  good  to  them  that 


Loving  an  enemy  had  been  en- 
joined under  the  old  covenant. 
Prov.  24  :  17,  18.  It  had  been  very 
beautifully  illustrated,  too,  by  Jo- 
seph, David,  Elisha,  and  Job.  But 
as  the  Jews  generally  had  never 
attained  to  so  high  a  state,  and  were 
now,  under  continued  false  teach- 
ing, farther  from  it  than  ever, 
Jesus  reinforces  with  his  oVn 
divine  authority  the  true  meaning 
of  the  law.  Thus,  again,  he  fulfils 
righteousness. 

Infidels  have  aimed  to  take  credit 
from  the  Old  Testament  and  from 
Jesus,  by  affirming  that  love  to 
enemies  was  enjoined  by  pagan 
moralists.  The  fact  is  admitted, 
but  both  the  Old  Testament  and 
Jesus  gain  greatly  by  the  compari- 
son ;  for,  though  Socrates,  Plato, 
and  other  pagan  moralists  taught 
the  duty,  they  put  it  upon  a  selfish 
basis  :  —  "  Hatred  of  enemies  will 
injure  yourself;  or,  self-respect 
forbids  it."  It  is  related  that  Soc- 
rates, having  been  struck  in  the 
face  by  a  drunken  man,  the  wise 
man  was  content  to  set  over  the 
wound  the  words,  "N.  did  this." — 
"  'Help  your  friends,  damage  your 
enemies,'  was  the  maxim  even  of  the 
wise  men  of  the  people." 

It  may  have  been  noticed  that  in 
some  versions,  Bless  them  that  curse 
you,  do  good  to  them  that  hate  you, 
.  .  .  which  despitefully  use  you, 
and,  are  wanting.  This  is  because 
there  is  very  little  evidence  from  an- 
cient manuscripts  that  they  ought  to 
be  in  the  text,  —  a  point  concerning 
which  biblical  scholars  are  agreed. 

No  English  reader  should  be  sur- 
prised to  learn  that,  like  all  other 
books  that  have  descended  from 
antiquity,  copies,  or  manuscripts  of 
the  Bible,  as  they  were  made  by 


CHAPTER  V. 


79 


hate  you,  and  pray  for  them 
which  despitefully  use  you,  and 
persecute  you ; 

45  That  ye  may  be  the  chil- 
dren of  your  Father  which  is  in 


hand,  before  printing  was  invented, 
contain  variations  of  reading,  so 
called.  That  is  to  say,  one  copy 
varies  from  another  in  the  spelling 
of  a  word,  in  the  omission  of  a 
word,  or  in  the  location  of  a  word. 
So  far  as  concerns  the  doctrines  and 
the  facts  of  Christianity,  these  vari- 
ations are  of  no  importance  what- 
ever. That  the  variations  are  so 
slight  is  to  be  attributed  to  that  uni- 
versal, particular  providence  which 
is  ever  superintending  the  kingdom 
of  Christ.  The  first  edition  of 
"Hamlet,"  only  a  very  small  part 
of  Shakespeare's  writings,  was  pub- 
lished in  1603.  The  variations  in 
the  several  editions  of  that  one  play 
are  far  greater  than  those  of  the  en- 
tire New  Testament,  written  more 
than  fifteen  hundred  years  before. 
The  second  edition,  1604,  appeared 
with  the  statement  on  the  title-page, 
"Enlarged  to  almost  as  much  againe 
as  it  was,  according  to  the  true  and 
perfect  coppie."  In  the  edition  of 
1623  are  wanting  entire  passages 
which  appeared  in  1604.  In  edi- 
tions of  the  present  century  these 
passages  have  been  restored.  It  is 
of  course  desirable  that  the  com- 
paratively unimportant  variations 
in  the  ancient  manuscripts  of  the 
Sacred  Scriptures  should  be  ex- 
amined and  compared,  that  the  true 
reading  in  every  case  may  be  adopt- 
ed, and  a  copy  of  the  Hebrew  and 
the  Greek  Scriptures  be  produced, 
that  shall  be  as  nearly  correct  as 
possible,  even  in  the  minutest  par- 
ticular. This  is  precisely  the  work 
which  distinguished  and  devout  men 
have  been  doing.  The  recent  dis- 
covery of  a  very  excellent  and  very 
old  (4th  century)  manuscript,  in  a 
convent  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Sinai, 
has  added  greatly  to  the  importance 


heaven  :  for  he  maketh  his  sun 
to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the 
good,  and  sendeth  rain  on  the 
just  and  on  the  unjust. 

46  For  if  ye  love  them  which 


of  this  kind  of  labor.  We  cannot 
be  too  grateful  for  the  many  favor- 
ing providences  by  which  the  schol- 
arship of  modern  times  has  the 
means  of  accomplishing  so  much  in 
the  department  to  which  reference 
is  made.  Believing  that  the  Eng- 
lish reader  should  be  able  to  share 
in  the  benefits,  the  writer  will  not 
hesitate  to  apprise  him  of  so  many 
of  the  changes  in  question  as  are 
of  sufficient  importance  to  call  for 
it. 

45.  The  motive  that  distinguishes 
the  teaching  of  Jesus  from  that  of 
pagan  moralists  is  likeness  to  God, 
expressed  in  the  words,  That  ye 
may  be  the  children  of  your  Father 
which  is  in  heaven.  But  is  not 
the  desirableness  of  likeness  to  God 
taught  by  heathen  ?  It  is  taught  in 
similar  words  but  with  dissimilar 
meaning.  Plato,  who  lived  many 
years  before  Christ,  means  by  like- 
ness to  God  only  the  avoidance  of 
sensuality,  and  devoting  one's  self 
to  philosophy. 

For  he  maketh  his  sun,  etc. — "  A 
beautiful  illustration  of  the  all-em- 
bracing love  of  God."  Seneca,  who 
was  born  A.  D.  2  or  3,  has  in  his 
writings  a  similar  saying :  Nam  et 
sceleratis  sol  oritur  et  piratis  patent 
maria, — For  even  upon  the  wicked 
the  sun  arises,  and  seas  lie  open  to 
the  use  of  pirates.  His  sun — God, 
then,  is  distinct  from  nature,  and 
therefore  pantheism,  the  doctrine 
that  God  and  nature  are  one,  is  a 
lie.  God  is  seen  by  devout  Chris- 
tians as  working  in  all  physical 
phenomena.  A  pantheist,  looking 
out  of  his  window  in  the  sunshine, 
or  in  a  rain-storm,  may  consistently 
enough  say,  /  shine !  I  rain !  for, 
according  to  his  own  teaching,  he, 
as  a  part  of  nature,  is  God. 


80 


MATTHEW. 


love  you,  what  reward  have 
ye  ?  do  not  even  the  publicans 
the  same  ? 

47   And  if  ye    salute  your 
brethren  onlv ,  what  do  ye  more 


46,  47.  Jesus  here  enforces  the 
duty  of  loving  even  those  who  do 
not  love  them,  by  the  consideration 
that  otherwise  their  love  is  as  nar- 
row in  principle  as  that  of  the  pub- 
licans. The  Eoman  government 
was  supported  largely  by  taxes, 
which  were  either  direct  or  indirect. 
The  latter  were  the  customs.  These 
were  farmed  out,  let  out,  to  Roman 
knights,  who,  being  men  of  wealth 
and  social  position,  became  respon- 
sible for  their  collection.  As  that 
which  came  to  the  government  was 
called  publicum,  that  is,  for  the  pub- 
lic, the  state,  these  officers  were 
called  publicans.  But  these  are 
not  the  class  here  mentioned  by 
that  name.  The  New  Testament 
publicans  were  a  lower  set  of  men, 
employed  to  do  the  work  of  collect- 
ing. With  some  exceptions,  they 
were  a  hard,  exacting  set  of  men. 
They  were  held  by  the  Jews  to  be 
as  bad  as  the  heathen.  18  :  17.  In 
the  public  estimation,  publicans 
were  yoked  with  "  sinners."  9  :  11. 
They  embezzled  to  enrich  them- 
selves. The  more  they  exacted, 
the  more  they  could  embezzle. 
' '  Among  the  Greeks  they  were 
called  cheats,  'plunderers,  prosti- 
tute-keepers, adulterers."  "Theoc- 
ritus considered  the  bear  and  the 
lion  the  most  cruel  among  the  beasts 
of  the  wilderness ;  and  among  the 
beasts  of  the  city  the  publican  and 
the  parasite."  "Left  to  themselves, 
men  of  decent  lives  holding  aloof 
from  them,  their  only  friends  or 
companions  were  found  among  those 
who,  like  themselves,  were  outcasts 
from  the  world's  law." 

Salute — Common  forms  of  salu- 
tation among  the  Jews  were,  Peace 
be  with  thee  !  Art  thou  in  health? 
The  Lord  be  with  you !     The  Lord 


than  others?  do  not  even  the 
publicans  so? 

48  Be  *ye  therefore  perfect, 
even  as  j^our  Father  which  is 
in  heaven  is  perfect. 


bless  you !  Go  in  peace  !  Hail ! 
"Arabians  have  similar  forms,  but 
the  followers  of  Muhammed  never 
address  the  salutation,  Peace  be  on 
you,  to  one  whom  he  knows  to  be 
of  another  religion ;  and  if  he  find 
that  he  has  by  mistake  thus  saluted 
a  person  not  of  the  same  faith,  he 
generally  revokes  his  salutation." 

Brethren  —  Any  one  between 
whom  and  themselves  exist  special 
ties,  whether  national,  religious,  or 
natural.  How  cutting  to  the  scribes 
and  Pharisees  this  calm  lowering 
of  them  to  the  level  of  the  two  most 
hated  classes  !  Bigotry  is  a  sin  that 
should  be  driven  from  the  world. 
Had  all  men  had  the  righteousness 
which  Christ  enjoins,  it  never  would 
have  entered  it.  Bigots  are  fewer 
than  formerly,  but  there  are  many 
yet.  If  one  should  love  one's  ene- 
mies, it  ought  not  to  be  difficult  to 
love  Christ's  disciples  of  whatever 
name.  Oneness  of  denominational 
name,  however,  or  oneness  in  or- 
ganization, is  not  a  necessary  con- 
dition of  the  most  enlarged  catho- 
licity. What  do  ye  more — What 
do  ye  that  excels  in  quantity  and 
quality  t 

48.  Therefore — In  view  of  what 
has  been  said  in  the  last  five  verses ; 
or,  as  some  think,  of  all  that  has 
been  said.  Perfect — Much  differ- 
ence of  opinion  exists  relative  to 
the  meaning  of  this  word;  some 
say :  Be  complete ;  be  not  wanting 
in  any  element  of  righteousness; 
have  them  all.  Had  Jesus  preceded 
the  direction  by  a  complete  list  of 
Christian  traits,  this  interpretation 
would  have  been  less  doubtful, 
though  the  fact  that  he  did  not  do 
so  is  not  decisive  against  it.  As 
your  Father  in  heaven — The  perfec- 
tion, then,  whatever  is  meant  by  it, 


CHAPTER   VI. 


81 


chapter  vi. 

TAKE  heed  that  ye  do  not 
your  alms  before  men,  to 
be  seen  of  them:  otherwise  ye 


is  to  be  in  imitation  of  perfection  in 
God.  But  in  vs.  45,  God  is  repre- 
sented as  loving  all  men  irrespec- 
tive of  character  and  condition. 
That,  so  far,  is  perfect  love,  and  if 
we  love  in  like  manner,  our  love, 
so  far,  is  perfect.  We  do  not  affirm 
that  this  exhausts  the  meaning  of 
the  word  perfect,  but  if  we  keep 
before  us  the  exact  point  which  our 
Lord  had  in  view,  this  seems  to  be 
the  conclusion  to  which  we  must 
come.  That  the  idea  of  the  attain- 
ability in  this  life  of  sinlessness  is 
involved  in  the  word  cannot  be 
proved. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Illustrations  :   Class  II. 

The  superior  character  of  the 
righteousness  required  is  still  the 
subject.  The  illustrations  in  Part 
I.  are  drawn  chiefly  from  current 
doctrines  ;  of  Part  II.  from  current 
practices,  the  aspect  being  that  of 
motives. 

1.  A  general  proposition  embrac- 
ing alms-giving,  prayer,  and  fast- 
ing. Take  heed — There  is  great 
danger,  then,  of  doing  what  is  for- 
bidden. Watchfulness  against  the 
danger  must  be  maintained.  Alms 
— A  Greek  word  meaning  right- 
eousness, instead  of  the  word  here 
rendered  alms,  is  the  true  reading. 
See  note  on  5  :  44,  last  paragraph. 
Do  not  your  righteousness — See  vs. 
20.  To  be  seen — For  the  purpose 
of  being  seen,  implying  desire  for 
the  praise  of  men.  But  had  they 
not  already  been  commanded  to  let 
their  light  shine  before  men  ?  Not 
that  they  might  be  seen,  but  that 
God  might  be  seen  in  the  good 
works  which  he  would  enable  them 


have  no  reward  of  your  Father 
which  is  in  heaven. 

2  Therefore  when  thou  doest 
thine  alms,  do  not  sound  a 
trumpet  before  thee,  as  the  hvp- 


to  do.  Reward — See  note  on  5 : 
12. 

2.  First  Illustration.  Therefore 
— A  specification  under  the  general 
precept  in  vs.  1.  Alms — The  term 
was  derived  from  the  Greek  word 
for  which  it  here  stands.  It  was 
formerly  written  almosine,  almosie, 
almous,  almose,  almesse,  almoyn, 
and  dimes.  In  the  Greek  it  was 
more  comprehensive,  meaning  com- 
passion, so  that  true  alms-giving 
was  the  bestowal  of  gifts  upon  the 
poor  in  the  spirit  of  compassion. 
The  English  word  is  applied  almost 
exclusively  to  gifts  bestowed  upon 
beggars.  The  Pharisees  attached 
great  value  to  alms-giving.  "Alms 
are  the  salt  of  the  kingdom,"  was  a 
proverb.  "It  is  related  of  the 
Rabbi  Abba,  who  is  represented  to 
have  been  a  model  of  benevolence, 
that  in  order  not  to  hurt  the  feel- 
ings of  the  poor,  he  used  to  go 
about  with  an  open  bag  on  his  back, 
full  of  alms,  to  which  the  poor 
might  help  themselves."  "In  every 
city  there  were  three  collectors. 
The  collections  were  of  two  kinds  : 
(1.)  Of  money  for  the  poor  of  the 
city  only,  made  by  two  collectors, 
received  'in  a  chest  or  box  in  the 
synagogue  on  the  Sabbath,  and  dis- 
tributed by  the  three  in  the  evening ; 
(2.)  For  the  poor  in  general,  of 
food  and  money,  collected  every 
day  from  house  to  house,  received 
in  a  dish,  and  distributed  by  the 
three  collectors.  The  two  collec- 
tions obtained  the  names  respec- 
tively of  '  alms  of  the  chest,'  and 
'  alms  of  the  dish.'  Special  collec- 
tions and  distributions  were  also 
made  on  fast  days." 

A  trumpet — Doubtless  a  figura- 
tive expression  to  denote  the  osten- 
tatious method  in  which  the  alms 


82 


MATTHEW. 


ocrites  do  in  the  synagogues 
and  in  the  streets,  that  the}7 
may  have  glory  of  men.  Ver- 
ily I  say  unto  you,  They  have 
their  reward. 

3  But  when  thou  doest  alms, 
let  not  thy  left  hand  know 
what  thy  right  hand  cloeth  : 

4  That  thine  alms  may  be  in 
secret :  and  thy  Father  which 
seeth  in  secret  himself  shall 
reward  thee  openly. 


of  the  Pharisees,  both  in  the  syna- 
gogues and  in  the  streets,  were  con- 
ferred. Doing  God's  will  by  show- 
ing compassion  to  the  poor  was  not 
the  end,  but  intense  love  of  the 
praise  of  men.  Had  no  one  been 
present,  it  would  have  been  much 
less,  if  anything  at  all,  that  beggars 
would  have  got  from  a  Pharisee. 
The  hypocrites — This  word  was  de- 
rived from  one  which  meant  to  act 
upon  the  stage.  A  hypocrite  was  an 
actor.  As  stage-playing  implied 
that  the  actor  did  not  feel  but  only 
pretended  to  feel,  so  the  Pharisees 
only  pretended  to  feel  for  the  poor, 
and  were  therefore  called  hypo- 
crites. Here  was  none  of  the  right- 
eousness which  God  required  even 
through  the  institutions  of  Moses. 
Have  their  reward — Have  it  fully, 
all  they  bargain  for.  The  Greek 
is  stronger  than  our  version  makes 
it. 

3,  4.  Right  hand  .  .  .  left  hand. 
The  Greeks  and  the  Komans  called 
the  hands  brothers.  Not  .  .  .  know 
— Our  benefactions  may  be  known 
as  having  come  from  us  ;  it  is  often 
impossible  that  it  should  be  other- 
wise ;  but  we  are  to  make  no  attempt 
to  let  others  know  it.  We  are  to  be 
so  indifferent  to  human  praise  as  not 
to  care  whether  men  knoAv  that  we 
have  given  or  not.  So  easily  ex- 
cited is  the  love  of  human  applause, 
that  we  ought,  so  far  as  possible,  to 
conceal  from  men  what  we  do  for 


5  f  And  when  thou  prayest, 
thou  shalt  not  be  as  the  hypo^ 
crites  are :  for  they  love  to  pray 
standing  in  the  synagogues  and 
in  the  corners  of  the  streets, 
that  they  may  be  seen  of  men. 
Verily  I  say  unto  you,  They 
have  their  reward. 

6  But  thou,  when  thou  pray- 
est, enter  into  thy  closet,  and 
when  thou  hast  shut  thy  door, 
pray  to  thy  Father  which  is  in 


objects  of  benevolence.  This  form 
of  righteousness  is  too  uncommon 
in  Christian  churches.  Many  of  the 
modern  ways  of  raising  money  for 
the  kingdom  of  Christ  are  adapted 
to  strengthen  the  kingdom  of  Satan. 
The  more  spiritual  members  of  a 
church  should  no  longer  allow  the 
world  or  worldly  members  to  con- 
trol them  in  this  respect.  Seeth  in 
secret — He  maintains  his  existence 
and  carries  on  his  operations  in  se- 
cret. Himself  is  emphatic.  He  will 
reward  thee,  though  what  thou  doest 
may  be  unknown  to  all  others.  Open- 
ly— No  stress  should  be  laid  upon  this 
word,  as  the  original  is  now  rejected 
from  the  critical  editions  of  the 
Greek  Testament.  See  note  on  5  :  44, 
last  paragraph. 

5,  6.  Second  Illustration.  Many 
of  those  who  lived  under  the  Old 
Covenant  had  the  true  conception 
of  prayer,  and  were  themselves  re- 
markable for  the  sincerity  and  spir- 
ituality of  this  form  of  worship;  but 
in  our  Lord's  time  the  false  right- 
eousness of  the  Pharisees  was  mani- 
fest in  nothing  more  clearly  than  in 
the  hollowness  of  their  prayers.  As 
among  Roman  Catholics,  the  form 
was  scrupulously  observed,  but  the 
spirit  of  prayer  as  evinced  in  Moses, 
Hannah,  David,  and  Jeremiah,  was 
wanting.  "Daily  prayer  was  re- 
peated three  times,  at  9  o.  c,  at  12, 
and  at  3 ;  people  assembled  in  the 
synagogues  for  prayer  on  Sabbath, 


CHAPTER   VI. 


83 


secret ;  and  thy  Father  which  |  do :  for  they  think  that  they 


seeth   in    secret    shall   reward 
thee  openly. 

7  But  when  ye  pray,  use  not 
vain  repetitions,  as  the  heathen 


Monday,  and  Thursday.  He  who 
prayed  properly  was  to  spend  nine 
hours  a  day  in  prayer."  The  Rab- 
bis taught  ' '  that  the  pious  people  of 
old  time  waited  an  hour,  and  prayed 
an  hour,  and  then  waited  another 
hour.  .  .  .  Eighteen  prayers  were 
to  be  used  daily.  .  .  .  Prayer 
was  offered  up  in  the  street,  above 
all,  at  the  hour  of  prayer ;  at  that 
hour,  whoever  was  riding  on  an  ass 
was  obliged  to  dismount.  Prayer 
was  to  be  so  earnest,  that  even  if 
one  were  saluted  by  the  king  when 
engaged  in  prayer,  one  ought  not  to 
acknowledge  it :  if  a  serpent  wound 
itself  around  one's  foot,  still  one 
might  not  remove  it." 

In  'the  synagogue — Why  should 
this  have  been  condemned?  He 
speaks  not  against  praying  in  that 
place,  but  only  against  praying  there 
to  be  seen  of  men ;  that  is,  to  get 
credit  with  men  for  being  very  right- 
eous. The  corners  of  the  streets — 
Points  where  two  streets  met,  and 
where,  therefore,  a  larger  number 
of  people  would  be  likely  to  be.  Had 
a  Pharisee  happened  to  be  at  such  a 
place  when  either  of  the  appointed 
hours  of  prayer  had  arrived,  he 
would  be  very  glad  that  it  had  so  hap- 
pened, and,  perhaps,  though  there 
is  no  proof  that  it  was  ever  done,  he 
would  time  his  walk  so  as  to  bring 
him  to  a  street  corner  at  the  hour. 
Thy  closet — An  upper  room,  or  "any 
place  of  privacy."  That  he  might 
not  be  seen  of  men,  Peter  went  up- 
on the  house-top  to  pray.  Acts  10 : 
9.  The  roof  of  the  Jewish  house 
was  nearly  flat,  and  was  "sur- 
rounded by  a  breastwork  or  wall  to 
prevent  one  from  falling,  which  is 
as  high  as  the  breast."  It  should 
not  be  inferred  that  Jesus  intended 
to  disapprove  offering  prayer  in  the 


shall  be  heard  for  their  much 
speaking. 

8   Be  not  ye  therefore  like 
unto   them :    for   your  Father 


hearing  of  others.  He  prayed  in 
the  presence  of  others  himself,  and 
in  the  use  of  the  plural  in  the  Lord's 
Prayer  taught  his  disciples  to  do  so. 
Enter  thy  closet  .  .  .  shut  thy  door 
— Figurative  expressions  by  which 
he  would  warn  us  against  the  sin  of 
the  Pharisees.  They  prayed  to  men  ; 
they  ought  to  have  prayed  to  God, 
whether  they  were  praying  in  the 
synagogue  or  in  an  upper  room. 
They  were  as  guilty  of  hypocrisy  in 
prayer  as  in  almsgiving. 

"  Read  on  this  book ; 
That  show  of  such  an  exercise  may  color 
Your  loneliness.    We  are  oft  to  blame  in 

this— 
'Tis  too  much  proved,  that  with    devo- 
tion's visage, 
And  pious  action,  we  do  sugar  o^r 
The  devil  himself."— Shakespeare. 

7,  8.  Use  .  .  .  vain  repetitions 
— The  original  is  one  word, — batto- 
logesete, — a  verb.  It  is  believed  to 
have  originated  in  imitation  of  the 
sounds  made  by  stammerers,  and  its 
meaning  in  this  place  is  probably 
the  same  as  much  speaking  with 
which  the  verse  ends.  Jesus  once 
prayed  all  night,  and  in  the  garden 
he  prayed  three  times  and  used  the 
same  words.  Several  successive 
hours  have  been  spent  in  prayer  by 
many  of  the  most  consistent  Chris- 
tians. What  the  Saviour  condemns, 
then,  is  the  notion  that  the  efficacy 
of  prayer  depends  on  the  frequency 
with  which  it  is  oil'ered,  and  on  the 
repetition  of  brief,  disconnected  ap- 
peals to  Jehovah,  such  as  is  known 
to  have  prevailed  among  the  heathen 
in  their  prayers  to  false  gods.  The 
priests  of  Baal  spent  half  a  day  in 
crying,  0  Baal!  hear  us.  1  Kings 
18  :  26.  The  worshippers  of  Diana, 
all,  with  one  voice,  about  the  space 
of  two  hours,  cried  out,  Great  is 


84 


MATTHEW. 


knoweth  what  things  ye  have 
need  of,  before  ye  ask  him. 


Diana  of  the  Ephesians !  As  the 
Greeks  had  about  thirty  thousand 
gods,  some  of  them  with  a  variety 
of  names,  it  was  simply  impossible 
for  a  Greek  to  avoid  senseless  repe- 
titions. In  an  ancient  Latin  author, 
one  is  represented  as  begging  his 
wife  to  cease  belaboring  the  gods 
with  thanks,  and  as  accusing  her  of 
judging  of  them  by  herself,  since 
she  could  believe  nothing  unless  it 
should  be  said  a  hundred  times. 
Wearisome  repetitions  of  words  dis- 
tinguish the  Muhammedans  and 
many  of  the  heathen  of  our  own 
day.  The  following,  taken,  abbre- 
viated, from  a  Manual  of  Prayers 
prepared  for  Roman  Catholics,  is  a 
specimen  of  vain  repetitions  in  the 
Church  of  Rome. 

God  the  Father  of  heaven,  have  mercy  on 

us. 
God  the  Son,  Redeemer  of  the  world,  have 

mercy  on  us. 
God  the  Holy  Ghost,  have  mercy  on  us. 

Holv  Mary, 

Holy  Mother  of  God, 

Holy  Virgin  of  virgins, 

Mother  of  Christ, 

Mother  most  pure, 

Mother  most  chaste, 

Mother  unde filed, 

Mother  inviolate, 

Virgin  most  prudent, 

Virgin  most  venerable, 

Mirror  of  Justice, 

Seat  of  Wisdom, 

Queen  of  Angels, 

Queen  of  Patriarchs, 

For  your  Father  knoweth — But 
Jesus  knew  that  this  is  no  reason 
why  Ave  should  not  pray. 

The  Lord's  Prayer. 

It  has  been  affirmed,  chiefly  by 
men  of  little  reverence  for  our  Lord, 
that  this  prayer  was  borrowed. 
Some  have  said  that  it  was  bor- 
rowed with  almost  verbal  exact- 
ness from  the  Zend  Avesta,  the  sa- 
cred books  of  the  fire-worshippers 
in  Persia  and  the  Parsees  in  India, 


►  Pray  for  us. 


9  After  this  manner  there- 
fore pray  ye  :  Our  Father  which 

the  latter  having  been  driven  fron  i 
Persia  by  the  Muhammedans.  Tho 
assertion  has  been  proved  to  be  ut- 
terly without  foundation.  "  Then* 
is,"  says  Tholuck,  "  only  one  single 
passage  in  the  Zend  Avesta  which 
bears  a  resemblance,  and  that  only 
an  apparent  one,  to  the  fifth  peti- 
tion." Others  have  affirmed  that  it 
was  borrowed  in  part  from  Jewish 
Rabbis.  From  the  Writings  of  Jew- 
ish Rabbis  can  be  culled  expressions 
which  are  somewhat  like  the  first, 
the  second,  the  fourth,  and  the  sixth 
petitions,  but  there  is  no  proof  that 
they  are  the  source  whence  these 
were  taken.  "For  the  fifth,  And 
forgive  us  our  debts,  we  cannot  ad- 
duce even  one  apparent  parallel." 
—  Tholuck. 

The  connection  of  the  prayer  with 
what  precedes  is  manifest.  Jesus 
had  just  warned  them  against  the 
notion  that  prayer  is  acceptable  in 
proportion  to  the  amount  of  word- 
praying.  That  was  speaking  nega- 
tively. He  now  speaks  affirmative- 
ly. He  gives  them  a  specimen  of 
the  kind  of  prayers  which  they 
should  offer.  We  should  ever  bear 
in  mind,  however,  that  it  is  the  right 
spirit,  rather  than  this  particular 
form  of  words,  which  he  enjoins.  It 
is  possible  to  offer  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
and  doubtless  it  often  is  offered,  in 
a  prayerless  spirit.  The  twofold 
question  has  been  much  discussed, 
whether  this  form  of  prayer  was  in- 
tended to  be  obligatory,  and  whether 
it  is  evidence  that  written  prayers 
should  be  used  instead  of  extempo- 
rary. The  latter  part  of  the  ques- 
tion could  not  have  been  seriously 
proposed  till  after  the  "church,"  in 
consequence  of  having  lost  the  spirit 
of  prayer,  had  begun  to  use  written 
prayers.  Then  a  defence  of  the  new 
method  was  natural.  One  of  the 
most  eminent  scholars  in  the  Church 
of  England  (Aiford)  says:  "It  is 
very  improbable  that  the  prayer  was 


CHAPTER   VI. 


85 


art  in  heaven,  Hallowed  be  thy 
name. 

10  Thy  kingdom  come.  Thy 
will  be  done  in  earth,  as  it  is 
in  heaven. 


regarded  in  the  very  earliest  times 
as  a  set  form  delivered  for  liturgical 
use  by  our  Lord."  The  offering  of 
the  Lord's  Prayer  by  the  pastor,  in 
all  non-Episcopal  churches,  as  an 
invocation,  would,  in  the  judgment 


1 1  Give  us  this  da}'  our  daily 
bread. 

1 2  And  forgive  us  our  debts, 
as  we  forgive  our  debtors. 

13  And   lead   us   not   into 

of  the  writer,  be  well.  It  is  difficult 
to  see  how  this  divine  form  can  be 
evidence  that  the  churches  of  Christ 
should  use  prayers  written  by  men 
uninspired. 


Introduction. 

1.  Father. 

2.  Our. 

3.  In  heaven. 


Plan  of  the  Prayer. 

Petitions. 
A.  B. 

1.  Hallowed  thy  name.  1.  Give  us. 

2.  Thy  kingdom.  2.  Forgive  us. 

3.  Thy  will.  3.  Lead  us  not. 


Conclusion. 

1.  Thine  is  the  kingdom. 

2.  Thine  the  power'. 

3.  Thine  the  glory. 


It  will  be  observed  that  the  first 
set  of  petitions  directs  the  mind  to 
God — thy ;  the  second,  to  ourselves 
— us.  The  conclusion  calls  it  back 
to  God,  there  to  rest  forever.  "The 
Lord's  Prayer,  apprehended  by  a 
Christian  and  spiritual  understand- 
ing, implies  such  a  depth  of  re- 
ligious feeling,  such  an  intense 
sense  of  our  relation  to  God,  and 
such  a  strength  of  faith,  that  it  has 
been  regarded  by  the  large  majority 
of  praying  Christians  as  not  so 
much  an  expression  of  their  actual 
state  of  mind,  as  the  type  of  that 
condition  which  they  were  striving 
to  attain." — Tholuck. 

9.  After  this  manner — Briefly, 
comprehensively,  spiritually.  Let 
the  state  of  your  hearts  be  such 
that,  without  any  fixed,  definite 
purpose  to  do  so,  you  will  be  im- 
pelled to  pray  in  this  manner,  or  in 
any  other  that  shall  be  substantially 
like  it.  Father — Then  we  are  not 
orphans.  God  is  the  Father  of  all 
men, — a  truth  seen  by  many  of  the 
heathen,  though  dimly,  for  Jupiter 
was  called  father  of  gods  and  men. 
The  word  here  put  upon  our  lips 
shows  that  Jesus  Christ  knew  God 
to  be  a  true  person,  distinct  from 
inanimate  nature  and  from  the  hu- 


man mind.  Plato,  a  celebrated 
Greek  philosopher,  born  more  than 
four  hundred  years  before  Christ, 
recommended  that  atheists  (one 
kind)  be  put  into  the  house  of  cor- 
rection (literally,  place  for  making 
people  sober)  for  five  years,  and  that 
if  not  sobered  by  that  time,  they  be  put 
to  death.  Denial  of  the  personality 
of  God  is  insanity,  though  Plato's 
method  of  cure  would  make  more 
hypocrites  than  believers.  The 
spirit  of  sonship,  lost  by  sin,  is  re- 
stored by  Christ,  and  is  thence  called 
the  spirit  of  adoption.  This  has  ever 
been  unknown  to  the  best  heatnen 
minds.  Our  Father.  Then  men  are 
brothers. .  There  are  times  when  the 
soul  cannot  but  lay  its  wants  before 
the  Father  exclusively  of  the  wants 
of  all  others,  but  the  true,  normal 
state  of  every  Christian  man,  in 
prayer,  is  that  of  oneness  with  ail 
who,  even  in  the  lower  sense,  are 
God's  children, — how  much  more 
with  those  who  are  children  in  the 
higher  sense,  whatever  their  denom- 
inational connection!  He  who  is 
not  habitually  in  this  state  should 
be  alarmed  at  the  narrowness  of  his 
spirit.  There  is  nothing  contradic- 
tory between  the  spirit  of  universal 
Christian  fellowship  and  conscien- 


86 


MATTHEW. 


temptation,  but  deliver  us  from   evil :  For  thine  is  the  kingdom, 


tious  adherence  to  that  form  of 
church  government,  and  to  those 
rites,  which  one  believes  to  be  based 
upon  divine  authority.  Who  art  in 
heaven — In  the  visible  heavens  and 
beyond,  a  conception  figuratively 
expressed,  and  naturally  suggested 
by  the  conviction  that  God  is  supe- 
rior to  earthly  things.  The  Jews, 
however,  had  just  views  of  God's 
omnipresence.  Behold,  the  heaven. 
and  the  heaven  of  heavens  cannot 
contain  thee.  1  Kings  8  :  27.  Whith- 
er shall  I  go  from  thy  Spirit?  or 
whuhey  shall  I  fee  from  thy  pres- 
ence? P«.  1-30  :  7.  There  is  a  local- 
ity where  Jesus  now  is,  and  the  holy 
argels  are,  and  the  resurrection- 
bodies  of  the  redeemed  are  to  be. 
That  is  heaven.  Hallowed  he  thy 
name — God's  name  is  not  a  mere 
appellation,  as  Jehovah,  Lord,  etc., 
nor  is  it  merely  the  essential  nature 
of  God,  but  it  is  that  nature  as  mani- 
fested to  us.  These  words,  as  used 
in  prayer,  imply  that  the  soul  recog- 
nizes God  as  holy,  and  feels  him  to 
be  such.  Explaining  them  as  ex- 
pressing the  desire  that  God's  name 
may  not  be  taken  in  vain  would  not 
exhaust  the  meaning;  yet  profane 
swearing  is  a  fearfully  abounding 
proof  that  God  is  still  but  little  rec- 
ognized on  earth  as  holy.  Anxiety 
concerning  our  own  names  is  both 
foolish  and  sinful.  He  that  hallows 
the  name  of  God  will  be  as  much 
honored  by  God's  providences  as  will 
be  for  his  good. 

10.  Thy  kingdom  come — See  note 
on  3 :  2,  second  paragraph.  The 
kingdom  had  already  been  intro- 
duced. It  is  here  conceived  as  ex- 
tending both  in  space  and  time,  till, 
in  the  latest  ages,  it  shall  comprise 
the  people  of  all  lands,  and  as  com- 
pleted at  last  in  heaven  itself.  God 
in  Christ  is  the  king ;  believers  are 
the  subjects.  u  We  pray  that  it  may 
come  in  us ;  we  prav  that  we  may 
be  found  in  it.:'  Earthly  kingdoms 
are  only  the   scaffolding  of  God's 


kingdom.  Thy  will  be  done — This 
is  not  a  mere  repetition  of  the  sec- 
ond petition.  That  contemplates  the 
reign  of  God  rather  in  its  wholeness  ; 
this  rather  in  its  extension  over  in- 
dividuals; yet  neither  view  excludes 
the  other.  One  may  be  truly  a  sub- 
ject of  the  kingdom  without  being 
an  exemplification  of  the  complete 
fulfilment  of  God's  will.  That  the 
will,  however,  may  be  brought  into 
entire  subjection  to  God's  will,  not 
absorbed  in  it,  so  as  almost  to  lose 
its  personality,  as  Madame  Guy  on 
seems  to  teach,  should  be  our  con- 
stant prayer.  This  should  be  the 
prayer  of  each  one,  not  for  himself 
only,  but  for  all  mankind,  and  that 
with  the  conviction  that  Christ  con- 
templates a  state,  even  on  earth,  in 
which  a  very  high  degree  of  personal 
righteousness  shall  mark  the  indi- 
vidual members  of  his  kingdom,  to 
be  perfected  at  last  in  heaven.  As 
it  is  in  heaven — Considered  as  the 
abode  of  angels.  As  refers  chiefly 
to  completeness. 

11.  The  form  is  now  changed 
from  Thy  to  Us.  Jesus  permits  us 
to  begin  on  the  lower  part  of  the 
scale  of  wants.  Bread — Whatever 
is  needful  for  the  nourishment  of 
our  physical  natures.  Daily — Bread 
sufficient  for  the  day.  The  original 
is  a  difficult  word ;  for  in  the  twelve 
hundred  Greek  books  which  have 
come  down  to  us,  it  is  not  to  be 
found.  This  is  the  only  place  in  the 
entire  Greek  language  in  which  it 
occurs,  Luke  11:3  being  only  a  par- 
allel verse.  The  attempt  has  been 
made  to  show  that  it  means,  belong- 
ing to  the  morrow,  as  if  we  are 
taught  to  pray,  Give  us  to-day  the 
bread  for  to-morrow ;  or,  Give  us 
our  future  bread  day  by  day.  There 
is  no  satisfactory  evidence  that  our 
own  version,  daily,  is  not  correct. 
This  day — We  are  not  to  pray  for 
to-morrow's  bread.  We  may  not 
need  any,  and  if  we  do,  it  will  be 
time  enough  to  pray  for  it  when  to  • 


CHAPTER  VI. 


87 


and  the  power,  and  the  glory, 
for  ever.     Amen. 

14   For  if  ye  forgive   men 


morrow  has  become  to-day.  The 
duty  of  praying  for  bread  does  not 
release  one  from  the  duty  of  work- 
ing for  it.  For  even  when  we  were 
with  you,  this  we  commanded  you, 
that  if  any  would  not  work,  neither 
should  he  eat.  2  Thess.  3  :  10.  In- 
dolence, however,  is  not  much  given 
to  praying.  Why  offer  prayer  for 
daily  bread,  if  one  has  laid  in  his 
barrel  of  flour?  One's  dependence 
on  God,  even  after  that  has  been 
done,  is  a  sufficient  answer. 

12.  A  higher  want.  Debts — Sins. 
As — Not  expressive  of  condition, 
much  less  of  measure,  but  of  simi- 
larity. Do  for  us  what  in  kind  shall 
be  like  that  which  we  do  for  others. 
Debtors — Possibly  in  a  commercial 
sense,  but  more  probably  referring 
to  some  offence  committed.  Men 
are  bankrupts.  They  have  nothing 
to  pay.  He  who  withholds  the  lat- 
ter part  of  this  petition  will  get  noth- 
ing if  he  offers  the  former  part. 

13.  A  still  higher  want.  Having 
prayed  that  sin  may  be  forgiven,  the 
soul  next  prays  that  it  may  not  be 
be  brought  into  temptation,  but  may 
be  delivered  from  evil.  But  James 
(1 :  2)  tells  us  to  count  it  all  joy 
when  we  fall  into  divers  tempta- 
tions. He  also  forbids  us  to  say 
when  we  are  tempted  that  we  are 
tempted  of  God;  for  God,  he  says, 
cannot  be  tempted  with  evil,  neither 
tempteth  he  any  man;  but  every 
man  is  tempted,  when  he  is  drawn 
away  of  his  own  lust  and  enticed. 
Distinguish  between  the  circum- 
stances, the  outward  condition,  that 
may  become  the  occasion  of  temp- 
tation, and  the  inward  yielding  to 
sin,  and  the  contradiction  disap- 
pears. The  subject  of  temptation 
may  be  viewed  thus  :  1.  Tempta- 
tions, tests,  trials,  are  not  pleasant. 
Conscious  of  weakness,  the  believer 
naturally  shrinks  from  them.  Jesus 


their  trespasses,  your  heavenly 
Father  will  also  forgive  you  : 
15  But  if  ye  forgive  not  men 


did  so  in  the  garden.  Our  Lord 
permits  us,  therefore,  to  pray  that 
we  may  not  be  led  into  such  cir- 
cumstances as  will  put  our  charac- 
ters strongly  to  the  test.  2.  But  as 
a  matter  of  fact  we  are  sometimes 
led  into  circumstances  precisely  of 
that  sort.  The  test  which  is  then 
applied  may  be  a  means  of  good. 
3.  Therefore,  we  should  count  it  all 
joy  to  have  been  led  into  them,  and 
thus,  not  otherwise,  we  shall  be  im- 
proved. 4.  But  through  its  deprav- 
ity, the  soul,  resisting  the  beneficial 
tendency  of  the  test,  may  ' '  be  drawn 
away  and  enticed."  But  deliver  us 
from  evil — Some  regard  this  as  a 
distinct  petition,  the  seventh,  but 
the  connection  with  the  previous 
clause  is  so  close  that  the  two  may 
be  regarded  as  one  petition.  Evil 
— Evil  in  general,  "evil  in  every 
form." 

Thine  is  the  kingdom,  etc. — 
Whether  this  doxology  is  a  genuine 
part  of  the  Lord's  Prayer  has  been 
much  discussed.  It  is  not  a  ques- 
tion between  believers  and  infidels. 
Scholars  of  the  greatest  reverence 
for  the  word  of  God  are  not  in  agree- 
ment concerning  it.  We  present  a 
brief  outline  of  the  facts  on  both 
sides  of  the  question  :  1.  This  part 
of  the  Lord's  Prayer  is  found  in  not 
one  of  the  six  most  ancient  manu- 
scripts, nor  in  five  others  of  later 
date,  known  to  the  learned  as  writ- 
ten in  a  small,  running  hand,  in- 
stead of  being  written  like  the  first- 
named  in  large  capitals,  nor  in  the 
ancient  Latin  versions,  nor  "in  the 
writings  of  most  of  the  early  fathers, 
some  of  whom  wrote  commentaries 
on  the  Lord's  Prayer."  2.  It  is 
found  in  a  Syriac  translation  which 
has  generally  been  regarded  as  made 
in  the  second  century,  called  the 
Peschito  version.  Though  this  is  a 
version  of  great  value,  its  value  as  an 


88 


MATTHEW. 


their  trespasses,  neither  will 
your  Father  forgive  your  tres- 
passes. 

16  %  Moreover  when  ye  fast, 
be  not,  as  the  hypocrites,  of  a 
sad  countenance  :  for  they  dis- 
figure their  faces,  that  they 
may  appear  unto  men  to  fast. 


evidence  of  the  genuineness  of  the 
last  sentence  of  the  Prayer  has  been 
considerably  weakened  by  the  dis- 
covery in  1842  of  another  Syrian  ver- 
sion of  the  Gospels  ;  for  the  newly  dis- 
covered manuscript  is  considered  as 
proving  that  the  Peschito  was  much 
changed  long  after  it  was  made.  The 
doxology  is  also  found  in  two  other 
Syriac  versions,  the  one  made  in  A. 
D.  508,  the  other  possibly  in  the 
fifth  or  sixth  century ;  in  an  Egyp- 
tian version,  fourth  century,  per- 
haps ;  in  an  Ethiopic  version,  fourth  ; 
in  an  Armenian,  fifth ;  in  a  Gothic, 
fourth;  in  a  Gregorian  version, 
sixth;  in  "nearly  all  the  five  hun- 
dred or  more  cursive"  [the  small, 
running  letter]  "manuscripts  in 
which  the  sixth  chapter  of  Matthew 
is  preserved."  Most  of  these  manu- 
scripts are  assigned  to  the  tenth  and 
sixteenth  centuries,  inclusive.  It 
may  be  added  that  this  part  of  the 
Lord's  Prayer  is  now  excluded  from 
all  critical  editions  of  the  Greek 
Testament  but  one,  and  that  the 
scholars,  however  devout,  who 
would  defend  it  as  a  genuine  part 
of  the  Prayer,  are  very  few  in  num- 
ber. Dr.  Schaff  says:  "It  was 
probably  inserted  in  the  beginning 
of  the  fourth  century  from  the  litur- 
gies and  the  primitive  habit  of  the 
Christians  in  praying  the  Lord's 
Prayer."  Yet  he  also  says,  strange- 
ly :  "No  one  can  doubt  the  eminent 
propriety  of  this  solemn  conclusion 
which  we  are  accustomed  to  regard 
from  infancy  as  an  integral  part  of 
the  prayer  of  prayers,  and  which  we 
would  now  never  think  of  sacrificing 
to  critical  considerations  in  our  pop- 


Verily  I  say  unto  you,  They 
have  their  reward. 

17  But  thou,  when  thou  fast- 
est, anoint  thine  head,  and  wash 
thy  face ; 

18  That  thou  appear  not  un- 
to men  to  fast,  but  unto  thy 
Father  which  is  in  secret :  and 


ular  Bibles  and  public  and  private 
devotions.  Probably  it  was  the  pre- 
vailing custom  of  the  Christians  in 
the  East  from  the  beginning  to  pray 
the  Lord's  Prayer  with  the  doxolo- 
gy.    Compare  2  Tim.  4  :  18." 

It  has  been  very  beautifully  said 
that  "when  the  whole  number  of  the 
sons  of  God  shall  have  reached  their 
goal,  a  pure  doxology  will  arise  in 
heaven  :  Hallowed  be  the  name  of 
God.  His  kingdom  is  come.  His 
will  is  done.  He  has  forgiven  our 
sins.  He  has  brought  temptation  to 
an  end.  He  has  delivered  us  from 
the  evil  one.  His  is  the  kingdom, 
and  the  power,  and  the  glory,  for 
ever.     Amen." 

14,  15.  For  connects  these  verses 
with  the  fifth  petition.  We  must 
not  conclude  that  forgiving  a  fellow- 
man  is  the  only  or  the  chief  condi- 
tion of  forgiveness  by  our  Maker. 
Penitence,  faith,  etc.,  are  also  con- 
ditions. Should  we  forgive  before 
the  wrong  is  confessed?  Yes,  in 
the  sense  of  cherishing  no  revenge 
and  using  actiAre  measures  to  do  the 
injurious  person  good.  See  5  :  44. 
Though  God  does  not  forgive  till  the 
sin  is  acknowledged,  yet  he  took  the 
first  step  in  bringing  men  to  repent- 
ance. We  love  him,  because  he  first 
loved  us.  1  John  4  :  19. 

16-18.  Third  Illustration.  The 
only  public  fast  which  Moses  re- 
quired was  that  of  the  Great  Day  of 
Atonement,  Lev.  23  :  27,  where  the 
Hebrew  translated  shall  afflict  your 
souls  is  understood  to  mean  that  ab- 
stinence from  food  which  is  the  re- 
sult of  true  humiliation  of  spirit.  No 
private  fasts  were  required,  though 


CHAPTER  VI. 


89 


thy  Father  which  seeth  in  se- 
cret shall  reward  thee  openly. 


in  the  Old  Testament  many  such 
fasts  are  recorded.  Hannah,  who 
afterward  gave  birth  to  Samuel, 
David  when  lamenting  the  death 
of  Abner,  Nehemiah  weeping  over 
the  desolate  state  of  Jerusalem, 
fasted  in  the  sense  of  abstaining 
from  food.  During  their  captiv- 
ity in  Babylon,  the  Jews  kept  four 
public  fasts  a  year.  ' '  Public  fasts 
expressly  on  account  of  unseasona- 
ble weather  and  of  famine,  may  per- 
haps be  traced  in  the  first  and  sec- 
ond chapters  of  Joel."  Fasting, 
when  it  proceeds  from  a  right  spirit, 
is  not  condemned  by  our  Lord ;  for 
(17  :  21)  he  says,  Howbeit  this  kind 
goeth  not  out  but  by  prayer  and 
fasting.  But  as  in  many  other 
cases,  so  also  in  this,  the  righteous- 
ness of  the  Pharisees  was  false. 
Pasts  had  been  greatly  multiplied, 
and  had  been  connected  with  vari- 
ous "  other  signs  of  humiliation, 
such  as  abstinence  from  the  use  of 
water,  of  anointing  oil,  of  razors, 
with  the  besprinkling  of  ashes,  the 
putting  on  of  mourning."  The 
Pharisees  fasted  not  under  conscious 
poverty  of  spirit,  but  to  make  a  show 
of  piety  for  the  purpose  of  gaining 
the  praise  of  men.  They  gave  their 
faces  a  look  of  sadness  by  disfigur- 
ing them,  and  they  disfigured  them 
by  going  with  uncombed,  unanointed 
heads  and  unwashed  faces.  It  was 
their  aim  to  catch  the  eyes  of  oth- 
ers. Such  fasting  was  as  bad  as 
continual  feasting.  Jesus  tells  his 
hearers  to  anoint  the  head  and  wash 
the  face;  that  is,  to  "appear  as 
usual "  when  they  fast.  Obedience 
to  this  direction  presupposes  true 
humiliation,  and  this  presupposes  a 
return  to  the  simpler  requirement 
of  Moses.  "The  number  of  annual 
fasts  in  the  present  Jewish  calendar 
has  been  multiplied  to  twenty-eight." 
The  numerous  fasts  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  and  of  the  Episcopal 
Church— Lent,  for  example, continu- 
es* 


19  %  Lay  not  up  for  your- 
selves  treasures   upon    earth, 


ing  forty  days  in  commemoration  of 
our  Lord's  fasting  in  the  wilderness 
— are  unauthorized,  and  are  unques- 
tionably detrimental  to  spirituality. 
An  Episcopal  journal,  1867,  says : 
"  We  never  met  with  a  family  which 
made  any  real  difference  in  regard 
to  the  quantity  or  quality  of  food 
consumed  in  Lent." 

19-34.  Fourth  Illustration.  The 
duty  of  resisting  worldliness  and  of 
making  God  the  sole  object  of  trust 
is  the  thought  running  through  the 
remaining  part  of  the  chapter.  It 
has  been  thought  difficult  to  see  the 
connection  with  what  precedes  ;  and 
it  is  indeed  true  that  the  direct  ref- 
erence which  has  hitherto  been 
made  to  the  scribes  and  the  Phari- 
sees is  suspended.  But  it  is  plain 
that  our  Lord  still  shapes  his  dis- 
course by  their  well-known  char- 
acteristics. They  were  covetous, 
grasping.  Which  devour  widows' 
houses.  Mark  12  :  40.  Against  such 
worldliness,  especially  as  cherished 
under  the  garb  of  piety,  Jesus  pro- 
ceeds to  warn  his  hearers. 

19-21.  Some  very  excellent  men, 
as  George  Midler,  founder  of  the 
well-known  Orphan  Asylum  of 
Bristol,  England,  regard  such  pre- 
cepts as  forbidding  them  to  accumu- 
late material  possessions.  Such  a 
literal  interpretation  overlooks  oth- 
er passages.  Neither  Abraham,  nor 
Job,  nor  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  nor 
Joanna  the  wife  of  Chuza,  was  re- 
proved for  owning  property.  Our 
condition  may  be  such  that  we  shall 
commit  no  sin  in  giving  away  all 
that  Ave  have,  and  thenceforth  ac- 
cumulating nothing,  but  there  is 
nothing  in  these  precepts  that  re- 
quires it.  See  2  Cor.  12  :  14,  where 
the  writer  speaks  of  the  duty  of 
parents  to  lay  up  for  their  children. 

The  21st  verse  is  the  key  to  the 
meaning.  Our  hearts  are  not  to  be 
set  upon  earthly  treasures.  We  are 
not  to  trust  in  riches.  Mark  10  :  24. 


90 


MATTHEW. 


where  moth  and  rust  doth  cor- 
rupt, and  where  thieves  break 
through  and  steal : 

20  But  lay  up  for  yourselves 
treasures  in  heaven,1  where  nei- 
ther moth  nor  rust  doth  cor- 
rupt, and  where  thieves  do  not 
break  through  and  steal : 

21  For  where  your  treasure 
is,  there  will  your  heart  be 
also. 


In  buying  we  are  to  be  as  though 
we  possessed  not.  1  Cor.  7  :  30.  We 
are  not  to  lay  up  treasure  for  our- 
selves, but  are  to  be  rich  toward  God. 
Luke  12 :  21.  We  must  lay  it  up 
for  the  purpose  of  using  it  in  glori- 
fying our  Creator ;  and  whether  we 
are  successful  in  this  respect  or  not, 
must  make  as  the  chief  end  of  life 
the  attainment  of  righteousness. 
Our  earthly  goods  must  not  be  our 
treasures.  Moth — An  insect  often 
mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament  as 
well  as  in  the  New.  It  is  also  men- 
tioned by  ancient  uninspired  writers. 
The  evidence  from  these  sources  is 
abundant  that  its  habits  four  thou- 
sand years  ago  were  similar  to  those 
which  the  moth  of  modern  times 
has.  It  was  very  fond  of  clothes, 
old  or  new.  Rust — Not  merely  rust 
in  the  present  sense  of  the  word,  but 
whatever  may  tend  to  destroy — 
"the  wear  and  tear"  of  things.  The 
opinion  that  it  means  a  species  of 
worm  that  destroyed  corn  is  not  Avell 
supported.  Break  through — Dig 
through,  for  thieves  in  Palestine 
could  obtain  access  to  houses  with 
but  little  difficulty  by  digging  through 
the  mud  walls.  In  the  dark  they 
dig  through  houses.  Job  24:  16. 
Where  your  treasure  is,  etc. — More 
surely  than  the  well-aimed  arrow 
will  hit  the  mark,  for  it  is  the  heart 
that  begins  to  lay  the  treasure  up. 
The  spirit  of  these  precepts  is  equal- 
ly binding  upon  the  rich  and  the 
poor.  It  is  equally  applicable  to  one 
who  makes  his  reputation  in  study, 


22  The  light  of  the  body  is 
the  eye  :  if  therefore  thine  eye 
be  single,  thy  whole  body  shall 
be  full  of  light. 

23  But  if  thine  eye  be  evil, 
thy  whole  body  shall  be  full  of 
darkness.  If  therefore  the  light 
that  is  in  thee  be  darkness,  how 
great  is  that  darkness  ! 

24  %  No  man  can  serve  two 
masters  :  for  either  he  will  hate 


or  in  public  affairs,  the  end  of  life. 
"What  a  man  loves,  that  is  his  God. 
For  he  carries  it  in  his  heart,  he  goes 
about  with  it  night  and  day,  he  sleeps 
and  wakes  with  it ;  be  it  what  it  may, 
wealth  or  pelf,  pleasure  or  renown." 

22,  23.  Jesus  here  illustrates  by 
means  of  the  eye  the  danger  of  con- 
tinuing in  our  natural  darkness. 
The  last  sentence  is  the  application. 
What  precedes  is  the  figure.  All 
parts  of  the  body  have  ownership  in 
the  light  of  the  eye,  and  of  course 
will  have  plenty  of  light  if  the  eye 
has  light.  Single — Not  in  the  sense 
of  sound,  healthy,  but  as  opposed  to 
double.  He  whose  eye  is  directed 
toward  only  one  object  is  supposed 
to  have  all  the  light  necessary  to  see 
that  object  with  distinctness.  If 
thine  eye  be  evil — Evil  in  the  sense 
of  not  being  single, — seeing  two  ob- 
jects or  more  at  the  same  time,  and 
therefore  not  seeing  either  clearly. 
So  if  the  light  within,  which  some 
say  is  the  reason,  others  the  con- 
science, others  the  faculty  by  which 
spiritual  things  may  be  discerned, 
— the  last  seems  to  be  the  more 
probable, — fails  to  do  its  office,  the 
darkness  of  the  whole  inner  man  is 
fearfully  great.  Thus  Jesus  enforces 
the  thought  of  the  three  preceding 
verses, — that  we  must  seek  one 
thing,  and  that  the  highest  good. 

24.  Tico  masters — The  idea  of 
master  implies  absolute  control ;  that 
is,  one  is  not  master  unless  he  has 
control  exclusive  of  all  others.  One 
who   should  attempt  to  serve  two 


CHAPTER   VI. 


91 


the  one,  and  love  the  other  ;  or 
else  he  will  hold  to  the  one, 
and  despise  the  other.  Ye  can- 
not serve  God  and  mammon. 


masters  would  find  it,  from  the  na- 
ture of  the  case,  impossible.  The 
one  or  the  other  must  be  subordi- 
nate ;  and  so  complete  is  the  sur- 
render of  the  will  implied  in  serving 
a  master,  that  it  is  impossible  not  to 
hate  any  other  who  might  be  seek- 
ing to  gain  the  control.  Some  sup- 
pose that  holding  to  the  one  and  de- 
spising the  other  is  a  mere  repetition 
of  hating  the  one  and  loving  the 
other  ;  but  it  is  better  to  understand 
a  double  alternation  thus  :  He  will 
either  hate  A  and  love  B,  or  he  will 
cleave  to  A  and  despise  B.  The  ap- 
plication is  made  in  the  last  sen- 
tence. Ye  cannot  serve  God,  and 
mammon — Ye,  in  contrast  with  him 
who  cannot  serve  two  human  mas- 
ters. Mammon — Not,  as  Barnes  and 
some  others  say,  the  name  of  a  Syr- 
ian idol.  There  is  no  evidence  that 
the  Syrians  ever  worshipped  an  idol 
of  that  name.  The  word  means 
riches,  and  here  riches  is  personified 
as  the  other  master.  It  is  as  impos- 
sible for  one  to  serve  both  God  and 
Riches  as  for  a  servant  to  be  con- 
trolled by  two  masters.  Service  ren- 
dered to  God  as  the  rightful  sover- 
eign implies  that  no  service  is  ren- 
dered or  can  be  rendered  to  Riches, 
and  service  rendered  to  Riches  im- 
plies that  none  is  paid  or  can  be 
paid  to  God.  The  idea  that  the  ser- 
vice rendered  to  God  is  in  its  very 
nature  opposed  to  the  service  ren- 
dered to  Riches  is  of  course  implied ; 
but  the  point  is  this  :  that  having 
either  as  master  implies  that  it  is 
impossible  for  the  other  to  be  mas- 
ter. The  amount  of  riches  that  may 
come  in  competition  with  God  is  not 
stated.  It  may  be  very  small.  The 
object  served  in  preference  to  God 
may  be  books,  as  well  as  gold.  It 
may  be  a  friend,  a  wardrobe,  the 
theatre,  the  opera,  reputation. 


25  Therefore  I  say  unto  ^  ou, 
Take  no  thought  for  your  life, 
what  ye  shall  eat,  or  what  ye 
shall  drink ;  nor  yet  for  your 


25.  Take  no  thought — The  com- 
mon explanation  is,  Be  not  anxious, 
as  if  it  were  a  given  degree  of  con- 
cern that  is  forbidden.  Dr.  Conant 
thinks  the  idea  of  degree  is  not  that 
which  Jesus  intended  to  express. 
He  considers  it  "a  prohibition, 
rather,  of  concern  for  the  future" 
calling  attention  to  vs.  34,  Sufficient 
unto  the  day  is  the  evil  thereof.  Ad- 
mitting that  the  idea  of  anxiety,  that 
is,  of  a  high  degree  of  concern,  is  not 
intended,  yet  the  concern,  whether 
more  or  less,  which  is  prohibited, 
seems  to  refer  to  the  current  day  as 
well  as  to  the  future.  Jesus  has  al- 
ready taught  us  to  pray,  Give  us  this 
day  our  daily  bread.  Any  concern 
respecting  our  temporal  wants  which 
contradicts  the  spirit  of  this  petition 
is  to  be  repressed.  Is  not  the  life  ? 
— Not  the  soul,  in  the  popular  sense, 
though  the  original  is  sometimes  so 
used,  for  Christ  teaches  us  to  be 
very  anxious  relative  to  the  soul, 
but  the  principle  of  animal  life. 
Meat — Food.  The  argument  is,  As 
God  gave  you  your  life,  he  will  of 
course  give  you  the  means  of  pre- 
serving it.  But  we  are  not  to  be 
indifferent  to  our  bodily  wants.  1 
Tim.  5  :  8 ;  1  Cor.  9:11;  1  Cor.  16 : 
1-13 ;  2  Cor.  9:5.  In  these  pas- 
sages is  enjoined  the  duty  of  pro- 
viding for  the  wants  of  others.  It 
cannot,  therefore,  be  sin  to  make 
some  provision  for  our  own  wants. 
But  if  concern  relative  to  our  phys- 
ical wants  indicates  distrust  of  God, 
and  therefore  want  of  righteousness, 
Iioav  little  must  be  the  righteousness 
of  him,  who,  though  having  abun- 
dant daily  supplies,  is  corroded  with 
desire  to  accumulate  riches  ! 

"  The  clergyman,"  says  Tholuck, 
"will  indeed  find  the  comforting  as- 
surance of  the  text  not  by  the  scep- 
tical complaint,  Has  it  then  never 


MATTHEW, 


bocty,  what  }Te  shall  put  on.  Is 
not  the  life  more  than  meat, 
and  the  body  than  raiment  ? 

26  Behold  the  fowls  of  the 
air :  for  they  sow  not,  neither 
do  they  reap,  nor  gather  into 


happened  that  a  man  who  has  sought 
first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his 
righteousness  has  died  of  starva- 
tion? .  .  .  Assuredly,  in  the  ordi- 
nary course  of  life,  he  who  strives 
after  the  righteousness  of  God,  which 
righteousness  of  course  includes  dil- 
igence in  his  calling  in  life,  will  ex- 
perience the  truth  of  the  consolation 
of  the  text :  for  extraordinary  cases 
there  are  other  extraordinary  texts 
of  consolation." 

26.  The  duty  of  making  God  our 
trust  to  the  exclusion  of  all  concern 
relative  to  our  temporal  wants  is  en- 
forced by  reference  to  the  birds. 
God  feeds  them.  But  whence  the 
propriety  of  reminding  us  that  they 
neither  sow,  nor  reap,  nor  gather 
into  barns  ?  How  could  they  be  ex- 
pected to  do  so  ?  and  if  we  under- 
stand our  Lord  as  saying  that  they 
do  nothing  toward  supplying  them- 
selves with  food,  that  is  not  correct. 
Birds  build  their  own  nests  and  seek 
their  own  food.  God  so  constituted 
them  (instinct),  and  so  constituted 
nature,  that  through  their  active 
habits  their  wants  are  supplied.  But 
not  even  their  instinct  leads  them  to 
attempt  to  raise  the  material  of  food, 
yet  God  supplies  them.  Much  tetter 
— Superior  in  rank,  capacity,  and 
possible  destiny.  Jesus  here  distinct- 
ly recognizes  the  duty  of  men  to 
work, — to  sow,  to  reap,  etc.  2  Thess. 
3  :  10,  11 :  For  even  when  we  Avere 
with  you,  this  we  commanded  you, 
that  if  any  would  not  work,  neither 
should  he  eat.  For  we  hear  that 
there  are  some  which  walk  among 
you  disorderly ,  working  not  at  all, 
but  are  busy  bodies.  But  men  must 
have,  such  confidence  in  their  heav- 
enly Father  that  they  shall  follow 
their  several  occupations  with  no 


barns  ;  yet  }rour  heavenly  Fa* 
ther  feedetn  them,  Are  ye  not 
much  better  than  they  ? 

27  Which  of  you  by  taking 
thought  can  add  one  cubit  unto 
his  stature? 


special  anxiety  relative  to  the  result, 
— a  very  high  type  of  righteousness, 
but  a  type  demanded  by  our  Saviour. 
In  the  fourth  century  was  a  sect  of 
Christians  called  Euchites,  an  order 
of  monks,  who,  believing  themselves 
to  have  reached  "the  summit  of 
perfection,  discarded  all  the  occu- 
pations of  common  life, — all  manual 
labor,  by  which  the  monks  were 
used  to  provide  for  their  own  sup- 
port and  for  the  relief  of  others,  but 
which  they  regarded  as  a  degrada- 
tion of  the  higher  life  of  the  spirit. 
They  were  for  living  by  alms  alone, 
and  were  the  first  mendicant  fri- 
ars." To  such  men  the  birds  would 
have  set  examples  worth  following. 
27.  By  taking  thought — Not  by 
an  effort  of  your  thinking  power,  but 
by  indulging  in  anxiety  respecting 
your  present  and  future  physical 
wants.  One  cubit — A  variable  meas- 
ure, but  eighteen  inches  is  the 
length  commonly  assigned.  Stature 
— Scholars  differ  concerning  the 
meaning,  in  this  place,  of  the  Greek 
word.  It  often  means  age.  The  only 
question  is  whether  it  here  means 
age  or  stature.  Dr.  Conant  prefers 
the  latter,  but,  "  in  deference  to  the 
opinion  of  many  eminent  scholars," 
gives  the  other  rendering  in  the  mar- 
gin. On  the  whole,  we  prefer  age. 
In  Luke  12:  26  is  the  additional 
thought :  If  ye  then  be  not  able  to 
do  that  thing  which  is  least,  why 
take  ye  thought  for  the  rest?  But 
eighteen  inches  would  be  a  great 
addition  to  a  man's  stature.  It  has 
been  objected  to  the  meaning,  age, 
that  the  cubit  is  a  measure  of  space, 
not  of  time,  but  the  objection  is  of 
little  weight.  David  says,  Thou  hast 
made  'my  days  as  a  hand-breadth. 
Here  a  measure  of  space  is  applied 


CHAPTER   VI. 


93 


28  And  why  take  ye  thought 
for  raiment?  Consider  the 
lilies  of  the  field,  how  they 
grow  ;  they  toil  not,  neither  do 
the}'  spin : 


to  time.  The  reasoning  is  this  :  If 
you  cannot  add  so  little  as  a  cubit  to 
your  life,  why  should  you  show  such 
concern  relative  to  your  temporal 
affairs  as  shall  imply  distrust  of 
God? 

28,  29.  "With  reference  to  cloth- 
ing," says  Tholuck,  "the  Saviour 
might  a  second  time  have  taken  an 
illustration  from  the  animal  king- 
dom ;  for  instance,  he  might  have 
alluded  to  the  peacock,  as  Solon  did 
to  Croesus  when  he  sought  to  hum- 
ble him ;  but  the  figure  he  selects  is 
more  tender,  and  at  the  same  time 
better  suits  his  purpose.  For  he 
points  out  the  glorious  adornment 
in  which  one  of  the  most  unassum- 
ing of  the  products  of  creation  is  in- 
vested." If  the  lily,  as  described  by 
Dr.  Bowring,  is  the  kind  to  which 
Jesus  referred,  it  could  scarcely  be 
called  "one  of  the  most  unassuming 
of  the  products  of  creation."  The 
popular  mind  conceives  of  the  lily 
of  this  verse  as  white,  but  it  is  af- 
firmed that  the  white  lily  does  not 
grow  wild  in  Palestine.  Dr.  Bow- 
ring  saw  in  Galilee,  in  April  and 
May,  a  lily,  the  color  of  which  was 
"a  brilliant  red;  its  size  about  half 
that  of  the  common  tiger  lily."  Dr. 
Thomson  believes  "the  beautiful 
Huleh  lily"  to  be  the  flower  re- 
ferred to.  "  This  Huleh  lily  is  very 
large,  and  the  three  inner  petals 
meet  above,  and  form  a  gorgeous 
canopy,  such  as  art  never  ap- 
proached, and  king  never  sat  under, 
even  in  his  utmost  glory.  And  when 
I  met  this  incomparable  flower,  in 
all  its  loveliness,  among  the  oak 
woods  around  the  northern  base  of 
Tabor  and  on  the  hills  of  Nazareth, 
where  our  Lord  spent  his  youth,  I  fv.it 
assured  that  it  was  this  to  which  he 
referred.    .    .    .    Nothing  can  be  in 


29  And  yet  I  say  unto  you, 
.That  even  Solomon  in  all  his 
glory  was  not  arrayed  like  one 
of  these. 

30  Wherefore,    if    God    so 

higher  contrast  than  the  luxuriant, 
velvety  softness  of  this  lily,  and  the 
crabbed,  tangled  hedge  of  thorns 
about  it."  This  illustration  is  more 
forcible  than  that  taken  from  the 
birds,  for  the  lilies  do  less  than  the 
birds  toward  prolonging  their  ex- 
istence. Solomon  in  all  his  glory — 
Wealth  gives  lustre  to  a  monarch, 
and  this  king's  reputation  among  his 
contemporaries  for  wealth  was  great. 
See  2  Chron.  9,  where  is  graphically 
depicted  the  visit  of  a  queen,  and 
where  are  many  other  details  which 
illustrate  the  magnificence  of  his 
reign,  as  his  "  great  throne  of  ivo- 
ry," the  number  of  his  horses  and 
chariots,  etc.  The  extent  to  which 
Solomon  engaged  in  commerce  has 
led  to  the  just  remark  that  "the 
overwhelming  riches  of  this  eminent 
merchant-sovereign  are  perhaps  not 
surprising."  The  temple  which  he 
built  is  among  the  evidences  of  his 
"glory."  Yet  even  Solomon  was  not 
arrayed  like  one  of  the  lilies  of  Gal- 
ilee. If  the  arrangements  of  Provi- 
dence are  such  in  respect  to  lilies, 
God's  children  should  have  no  dis- 
trust of  his  willingness  to  clothe 
them,  they  still  being  supposed  to 
use  their  free  powers  in  sowing, 
reaping,  etc. 

How  different  from  man's  standard 
of  judging  is  God's !  An  ivory 
throne,  chariots,  servants,  gold,  pea- 
cocks, and  apes  are  man's  ideal  of 
glory!  2  Chr.  9  :  21.  God  chooses 
the  lily.  Jesus  was  tendei'ly  inter- 
ested in  the  birds  and  plants;  so 
his  disciples  ought  to  be.  Not  with 
the  sentimentalism  of  a  mere  artist 
did  Jesus  love  to  talk  of  nature,  but 
he  loved  nature  as  the  work  of  the 
Infinite  Mind. 

'60.  The  grass — The  herbage. 
Wherefore  seems  to  make  it  neces- 


94 


MATTHEW. 


clothe  the  grass  of  the  field, 
which  to-day  is,  and  to-morrow* 
is  cast  into  the  oven,  shall  he 
not  much  more  clothe  you,  O 
ye  of  little  faith? 

31  Therefore  take  no 
thought,  saying,  What  shall 
we  eat?  or,  What  shall  we 
drink?  or,  Wherewithal  shall 
we  be  clothed? 

32  (For  after  all  these  things 
do  the  Gentiles  seek  :)  for  your 


sary  to  include  the  lilies,  but  it 
should  be  and  instead  of  wherefore. 
Lilies  would  of  course  be  cut  down 
with  the  herbage  generally;  but 
there  is  an  advance  in  the  thought 
here.  "The  scarcity  of  wood  in 
Palestine  is  very  great,  especially 
in  the  southern  part;  so  that  the 
people  are  obliged  to  resort  to  the 
use  of  almost  everything  that  is  capa- 
ble of  being  burnt,  in  order  to  pro- 
cure the  means  of  warming  their 
houses  in  winter,  and  of  preparing 
their  daily  food.  They  not  only  cut 
down,  for  this  purpose,  the  shrubs 
and  larger  kinds  of  grass,  but  gather 
the  common  withered  grass  itself, 
and  the  wild  flowers,  of  which  the 
fields  display  so  rich  a  profusion." — 
Hackett.  To-day  .  .  .  to-morrow — 
Even  the  best  grasses  are  compara- 
tively short-lived,  and  as  to  the  lily, 
"  one  south  wind  sweeping  across  the 
plain  will  in  four  and  twenty  hours 
leave  all  its  beauty  faded,  parched, 
and  dead."  Oven — "  It  consists  of  a 
large  jar  made  of  clay,  about  three 
feet  high,  and  widening  toward  the 
bottom,  with  a  hole  for  the  extraction 
of  the  ashes.  Occasionally,  howev- 
er, it  is  not  an  actual  jar,  but  an  erec- 
tion of  clay  in  the  form  of  a  jar,  built 
on  the  floor  of  a  house.  .  .  .  It  was 
heated  with  dry  twigs  and  grass, 
and  the  loaves  were  placed  both  in- 
side and  outside  of  it."  Of  little 
faith — This  part  of  the  discourse, 
then,  was  addressed  specially  to  bis 
disciples,  for  others  have  no  faith. 


heavenly  Father  knoweth  that 
ye  have  need  of  all  these  things. 

33  But  seek  }re  first  the  king- 
dom of  God,  and  his  righteous- 
ness ;  and  all  these  things  shall 
be  added  unto  you. 

34  Take  therefore  no  thought 
for  the  morrow :  for  the  mor- 
row shall  take  thought  for  the 
things  of  itself.  Sufficient  unto 
the  day  is  the  evil  thereof. 


32.  The  Gentiles— Making  the 
supply  of  their  temporal  wants  the 
end  of  life  was  and  still  is  the  char- 
acteristic of  the  heathen ;  and  there- 
fore it  would  be  heathenish  in 
Christ's  disciples  to  do  the  same 
thing.  The  Pharisees  despised  the 
heathen,  and  yet  in  worldliness  the 
Pharisees  and  the  heathen  were 
alike.  Your  heavenly  Father  know- 
eth — A  truth  of  infinite  value. 

33,34.  The  conclusion  of  the  train 
of  thought  beginning  at  vs.  19.  The 
kingdom  of  God  is  explained  in  the 
note  on  3 :  2.  First  refers  not  to 
time,  but  to  importance.  His  right- 
eousness— The  personal  righteous- 
ness which  is  the  subject  of  this  ser- 
mon. It  should  be  the  object  of 
every  day's  aim.  All  these  things — 
All  the  temporal  supplies  of  which 
Christ  has  spoken.  See  Rom.  8  :  32  : 
He  that  spared  not  his  own  Son,  etc. 
Reader,  are  you  doing  what  Jesus 
Christ  here  commands  you  to  do  ? 
No  thought  for  the  morrow — The 
conclusion  is  repeated,  and  that  for 
the  purpose  of  enforcing  it  anew. 
Morrow — Not,  strictly,  the  entire  fu- 
ture of  your  life  on  earth,  but  the 
coming  day.  The  morrow  will  be 
anxious  for  itself;  that  is.  to-morrow 
will  bring  its  own  cares.  If  you  are 
anxious  under  the  wants  of  to-day 
and  anxious  concerning  the  wants 
of  to-morrow,  your  anxiety  will  be 
doub-.ed.  Of  course  the  sin  will 
be  doubled.  The  evil  thereof— -Its 
cares.     If  the  course  from  which 


CHAPTER  VTT. 


95 


CHAPTER  VII. 

{DDG-E  not,  that  ye  be  not 
judged. 

2  For  with  what  judgment 
ye  judge,  ye  shall  be  judged  : 
and  with  what  measure  ye  mete, 
it  shall  be  measured  to  you 
again. 

3  And  why  beholdest  thou 
the  mote  that  is  in  thy  broth- 
er's  eye,  but  considerest  not 


we  are  dissuaded  will  double  the 
load,  what  a  load  do  those  poor 
creatures  carry  who  indulge  in  anx- 
iety relative  to  all  their  future  days 
on  earth,  assuming,  as  such  persons 
generally  do,  that  they  shall  live  to 
old  age!  "Life  is  no  series  of 
chances  with  a  few  providences 
sprinkled  between  to  keep  up  a 
justly  failing  belief,  but  one  provi- 
dence of  God." —  Unspoken  Sermons 
by  George  McDonald. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

The  connection  between  this  part 
of  the  sermon  and  what  precedes 
is  more  obvious  than  some  have 
thought.  The  superiority  of  the 
righteousness  required  by  the  law, 
and  fulfilled  by  Christ,  continues  to 
be  the  subject.  The  scribes  and 
Pharisees  were  still  in  our  Lord's 
eye ;  for  they  were  uncharitable  in 
judging  (1-5)  ;  they  did  not  treat 
others  as  they  wished  to  be  treated 
themselves  (12) ;  they  were  false 
teachers  and  bore  bad  fruit  (15-20)  ; 
they  said,  but  did  not  (21-27). 

1.  Fifth  Illustration.  Judge  not 
— Do  not  assume  to  sit  in  judgment 
upon  men.  The  spirit  of  censorious- 
ness  is  the  thing  prohibited.  That 
ye  be  not  judged — By  God,  in  what- 
ever way,  whether  through  men 
as  i/ifctruments  of  providence,  i-i 
thror<;gh  Jesug  Christ  at  the  Day  r-f 
Judgment.  That  censoriousness, 
rather  than  judgment  universally,  is 


the  beam  that  is  in  thine  own 
eye? 

4  Or  bow  wilt  thou  say  to 
thy  brother,  Let  me  pull  out 
the  mote  out  of  thine  eye  ;  and, 
behold,  a  beam  is  in  thine  own 
eye? 

5  Thou  hypocrite,  first  cast 
out  the  beam  out  of  thine  own 
eye ;  and  then  shalt  thou  see 
clearly  to  cast  out  the  mote  out 
of  thy  brother's  eye. 


the  sin  condemned,  is  evident  from 
18  :  15-17 ;  1  Cor.  5  :  11  and  6  :  5,  in 
all  which  the  duty  of  church  disci- 
pline is  enjoined.  See,  also,  John 
7 :  24 :  Judge  not  according  to  the 
appearance,  but  judge  righteous 
judgment.  Indifference  to  error  or 
to  sin  is  not  taught.  The  Sermon 
on  the  Mount  is  itself  the  best  re- 
proof of  false  liberality,  for  it  is 
throughout  a  judgment  of  sin  and 
error.  Assumption  of  authority  by 
the  civil  power  concerning  matters 
of  religion  is  forbidden.  History 
tells  sad  tales  of  trial  and  death  for 
opinions'  sake.  There  is  a  medium 
course  between  intolerance  and  in- 
differentism. 

2.  With  what  judgment,  etc. — 
Your  judgment  of  others  shall  be 
made  the  standard  by  which  you 
shall  be  judged.  "No  indulgence 
shall  be  shown  to  those  who  have 
shown  no  indulgence  to  others."  In- 
numerable illustrations  of  this  truth 
may  be  drawn  from  the  history  of 
persecution.  Again — No  impor- 
tance should  be  attached  to  this  word. 
It  should  disappear  from  the  trans- 
lation. 

3-5.  The  point  is  this :  that  we 
must  not  be  guilty  of  hypocrisy  by 
proposing,  as  if  in  love,  to  cure  a 
brother  of  a  fault  when  indulging 
one  of  our  own  still  greater.  Pos- 
sibly Jesus  means  to  refer  to  a 
greater  fault  of  the  same  kind ;  for 
mote  (splinter)  and  beam,  it  will  be 
noticed,  are  the  same  in  kind.     We 


fl6 


MATTHEW. 


3  f  Give  not  that  which  is 
holy  unto  the  clogs,  neither  cast 
ye  your  pearls  before  swine, 
lest  they  trample  them  under 
their  feet,  and  turn  again  and 
rend  you. 

7  %  Ask,  and  it  shall  "be 
given  you  ;  seek,  and  ye  shall 
find  ;  knock,  and  it  shall  be 
opened  unto  3Tou  : 

8  For  every  one  that  asketh 


say  possibly,  for  the  point  should 
not  be  pressed.  Pull — Cast  out  is 
better.  Notice  the  gradation;  be- 
holding, casting  out.  One  might 
not  attempt  the  latter  who  would  do 
the  former,  though  the  former  would 
be  very  likely  to  lead  to  the  latter.. 
First  cast  out — It  is  duty  to  aid 
your  brother  to  get  rid  of  the 
splinter,  but  you  must  first  get  rid 
of  the  beam  which  is  in  your  own 
eye.  This  direction  must  not  be 
perverted  by  neglecting  all  effort  for 
another's  good  under  the  plea  that 
we  are  not  perfect.  Shalt  see  clearly 
— Personal  righteousness  is  a  divine 
qualification  for  making  others  right- 
eous. The  smallest  fault,  like  a 
splinter  in  the  eye,  is  painful  till  re- 
moved ;  the  sooner  out  the  better. 

6,  The  connection  with  the  pre- 
ceding verse  is  not  clear,  but  it  may 
be  this  :  Though  you  ought  to  at- 
tempt to  make  your  brother  better, 
yet  discriminate.  Some  are  like 
dogs  and  swine.  All  effort  to  make 
them  better  will  be  a  waste.  That 
which  is  holy — Meat  consecrated  as 
sacrifice.  Dogs  and  swine  were  un- 
clean by  the  law  of  Moses.  Pearls 
— Then,  as  now,  held  in  high  esti- 
mation. Under — With.  Again  is 
superfluous.  Sacrificial  meat  and 
pearls  are  truths  respecting  spiritual 
flings.  This  precept  may  be  greatly 
I^jxV^rted  by  withholding  truth  from 
those  who  give  little  promise  of  re- 
ceiving it.  Tv.t  are  not  such  that  they 
should  be  regarded  as  swine  or  dogs. 
God  had  a  purpose  of  mercy  rela- 


rccoiveth  ;  and  he  that  seeketh 
findeth  ;  and  to  him  that  knoek- 
eth  it  shall  be  opened. 

9  Or  what  man  is  there  of 
you,  whom  if  his  son  ask  bread, 
will  he  give  him  a  stone? 

10  Or  if  he  ask  a  fish,  will 
he  give  him  a  serpent? 

11  If  ye  then,  being  evil, 
know  how  to  give  good  gifts 
unto  your  children,  how  much 


tive  to  Matthew  the  publican,  the 
woman  who  was  a  sinner,  and  one 
of  the  thieves  on  the  cross. 

7-11.  The  righteousness  described 
must  be  sought  with  prayer.  Ask; 
seek ;  knock — The  second  expressing 
more  earnestness  than  the  first,  and 
the  third  more  than  the  second. 
Every  one,  etc.,  receiveth — This  is 
true  even  in  the  ordinary  relations 
of  life.  How  much  more  is  it  to  be 
expected  that  in  the  higher  relations 
which  we  sustain  to  God,  we  shall 
obtain  what  we  ask!  In  vv.  9-11, 
Jesus  illustrates  from  the  more  spe- 
cific relation  existing  between  par- 
ents and  their  children.  It  is  an 
argument  from  the  less  to  the  great- 
er. No  father  would  mock  his  starv- 
ing child  by  giving  him  a  stone  in- 
stead of  bread,  or  a  serpent  instead 
of  a  fish :  it  would  be  doing  violence 
to  his  nature.  He  has  the  capacity 
to  see  what  his  children  need.  He 
is  indeed  evil,  depraved,  yet  he  has 
lost  neither  capacity  nor  parental 
affection.  The  nature  of  God  is 
such  as  to  insure  good  things  in  an- 
swer to  your  prayers.  It  is  more 
certain  that  your  heavenly  Father 
will  hear  you,  for  it  is  more  thor- 
oughly accordant  with  his  nature. 
Good  things— In.  Luke  11 :  13.  the- 
Holy  Sp.rift.  So  far,  then,  as  the  gift 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  embraced  in 
these  -verses,  the  promise  need  not  be 
limited  by  the  condition  in  1  John  5  : 
14,  ina.3ii:iLc!i  £J  prayer  for  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  known  to  be  in  accordance 
with  the  will  of  God :  but  there  are 


CHAPTER   VII. 


97 


more  shall  your  Father  which 
is  in  heaven  give  good  things 
to  them  that  ask  him  ? 

12  Therefore  all  things  what- 
soever ye  would  that  men 
should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even 
so  to  them :  for  this  is  the  law 
and  the  prophets. 

13  %  Enter  ye  in  at  the  strait 


many  things  for  which  we  pray  con- 
cerning which  the  will  of  God  may 
he  positively  unknown.    It  is  better 
for  us  and  for  our  friends  that  some 
of  our  prayers  should  not  be  an- 
swered.     "Monica,    dreading    the 
persecutions  which  were  then  threat- 
ening the  metropolis,  prayed  to  God 
that  he  would  not  suffer  her  son  to 
go  to  Rome  :  he  went  notwithstand- 
ing, and  it  was  in  Italy  that  he  found 
Christ."     This  son  was  Augustine, 
the  celebrated  church  father,  born 
in  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century, 
whose   conversion  was  a  most  re- 
markable illustration  of  the  grace 
of  God.     We  should  be  careful  to 
pray  for  bread,  not  for  a  stone.     It 
is  better  that  the  prayer  be  lost  if  of- 
fered for  that  which  will  not  nourish. 
12.    The  Golden  Rule.    Therefore 
— The  connection  is  thought  by  some 
to  be  obscure,  but  this  seems  to  be  a 
conclusion  from  the  statement  of  the 
preceding  verse.  As  God  bestows  his 
love  upon  you  in  the  ' '  good  gifts  "  of 
his  providence  and  grace,  so  should 
you  bestow  yours  upon  your  fellow. 
But  in  what  measure  ?   In  the  same 
measure  in  which  you,   in  similar 
circumstances,  would  desire  him  to 
bestow  his  love  upon  you.     Is  the 
rule   original  with  Jesus?     Jesus 
himself  makes  no  such  claim.     He 
affirms  it  to  be  a  requisition  of  the 
Law  and  the  Prophets ;  that  is,  so 
far  as  concerns  our  relations  to  one 
another,    it  is  the  great  principle 
underlying  the  teachings  of  the  Law 
and  the  Prophets,  though  as  pre-ex- 
istent  he  was  himself  the  source  of 
all  the  truth  of  the  Old  Testament. 
Gibbon,  in  his   "  Decline  and  Fall  | 
9 


gate  :  for  wide  is  the  gate,  and 
broad  is  the  way,  that  leadeth 
to  destruction,  and  many  there 
be  which  go  in  thereat : 

14  Because  strait  is  the  gate, 
and  narrow  is  the  way,  which 
leadeth  unto  life,  and  few  there 
be  that  find  it. 

15  f  Beware  of  false  proph- 


of  the  Roman  Empire,"  shows  his 
antipathy  to  Christianity  by  saying 
that  he  read  the  Golden  Rule  in  a 
moral  treatise  of  Isocrates,  written 
four  hundred  years  before  the  pub- 
lication of  the  Gospel.  But  it 
appears  that  "  in  all  the  parallel  say- 
ings from  the  classics  and  the  rabbin- 
ical writings,  there  is  to  be  found" 
[only]  "the  negative  expression." 
Jesus  states  the  duty  in  the  positive 
form.  In  the  writings  referred  to 
is  announced  little  more  than  the 
duty  of  refraining  from  doing  to 
others  the  wrong  which  they  do  to 
us.  That  is  a  silver  rule.  Jesus 
enjoins  active  beneficence :  only 
his  is  worthy  the  name  of  Golden 
Rule. 

Conclusion  of  the  Sermon. 

13,  14.  These  verses  contain  an 
exhortation  to  lead  the  life  of  right- 
eousness which  has  been  described. 
The  duty  is  enforced  in  figurative 
terms.  The  life  is  represented  as  a 
narrow  way  at  the  beginning  of 
which  stands  a  strait,  that  is,  nar- 
row, gate.  It  is  so  represented,  1. 
Because  it  is  a  life  in  which  the  re- 
quirements of  Christ  put  severe 
curbs  on  the  sinful  powers  of  men ; 
2.  Because  it  is  a  life  of  trials  aris- 
ing from  the  opposition  of  men  to 
truth  and  holiness.  Few  that  find  it 
— Not  merely,  as  some  think,  in  that 
early  age  of  the  Christian  cause,  but 
even  now.  Nominal  Christians  are 
many,  but  real  disciples  are  still  a 
minority.  Wide  is  the  gate  and 
broad  the  way — Not  wholly  on  ac- 
count of  the  number  which  go  in, 


98 


MATTHEW. 


ets,  which  come  to  you  in 
sheep's  clothing,  but  inwardly 
they  are  ravening  wolves. 

16  Ye  shall  know  them  by 
their  fruits.  Do  men  gather 
grapes  of  thorns,  or  figs  of 
thistles  ? 

17  Even  so  every  good  tree 
bringeth  forth  good  fruit ;  but 
a  corrupt  tree  bringeth  forth 
evil  fruit. 


but  because  of  the  large  scope 
which  men  give  to  the  sinful  actings 
of  their  hearts.  Let  there  be  but 
one  such  man,  and  there  is  a  wide 
gate  and  a  broad  way.  The  ends  of 
the  two  ways  are  different.  The 
broad  way  does  not  at  last  empty  all 
its  travellers  into  the  narrow  way. 
The  narrow  way  leads  to  life.  Lev. 
18  :  5 ;  1  Tim.  6  :  19.  Life— See  re- 
marks concerning  the  meaning  of 
this  word  in  the  note  on  25  :  46.  De- 
struction— This  is  one  of  the  words 
on  which  reliance  has  been  placed 
for  proof  that  the  wicked  will  be  an- 
nihilated. It  has  been  confidently 
asserted  that  the  Greek  word  means 
annihilation.  Though  this  position 
has  not  been  taken  by  men  dis- 
tinguished for  breadth  and  accuracy 
of  scholarship,  many  of  the  people 
have  been  greatly  deceived  by  the 
appearance  of  scholarship  in  some 
of  the  books  written  in  its  defence. 
A  very  thorough  refutation  of  the 
error  has  been  made  by  Dr.  Bart- 
lett  ("Life  and  Death  Eternal"). 
The  word  does  not  mean  annihila- 
tion, but  ruin,  the  destruction  not 
of  being,  but  of  well-being.  " '  I  am 
lost,  destroyed,  or  perished,'  was  a 
common  Attic  phrase,  meaning,  I 
am  in  the  last  degree  miserable  or 
unfortunate."  If  the  word  means 
annihilation,  the  words  in  Hosea 
13 :  9,  O  Israel,  tliou  hast  destroyed 
thyself,  mean,  O  Israel,  thou  hast 
annihilated  thyself.  It  is  difficult 
to  see  how  Israel  could  have  been 
annihilated  and  yet  continue  in  ex- 


18  A  good  tree  cannot  bring 
forth  evil  fruit,  neither  can  a 
corrupt  tree  bring  forth  good 
fruit. 

19  Every  tree  that  bringeth 
not  forth  good  fruit  is  hewn 
down,  and  cast  into  the  fire. 

20  Wherefore  by  their  fruits 
ye  shall  know  them. 

21  ^[  Not  every  one  that 
saith    unto   me,   Lord,   Lord, 


istence,  as  the  nation  did,  many  hun- 
dred years  after.  It  is  difficult  to 
see  how  the  ointment  which  a  wom- 
an poured  on  the  Saviour's  head 
could  have  been  annihilated,  though 
it  must  have  been  if  the  Greek  word 
here  translated  destruction  means 
annihilation ;  for  in  the  question,  To 
what  purpose  is  this  waste?  the 
original  of  the  word  waste  is  the 
same  as  is  here  rendered  destruc- 
tion. Substitute  the  word  annihila- 
tion in  any  passage  in  the  Bible  for 
the  word  destruction,  and  the  ab- 
surdity is  manifest.  Enter — Go. 
Men  are  free,  then,  though  in  vv. 
7-11  they  are  commanded  to  pray 
for  God's  help.  At  the  strait  gate — 
Through  it.  There  must  be  no  stop- 
ping on  the  threshold. 

15-20.  The  narrow  way  may  be 
missed  through  bad  guidance.  False 
prophets — Teachers  who  profess  to 
give  you  truth,  but  give  you  false- 
hood. It  need  not  be  restricted  to 
Pharisees  and  scribes,  nor  to  those 
who  were  soon  to  arise,  deceiving 
if  possible  the  very  elect,  but  may 
be  applied  also  to  false  teachers  in 
all  ages.  Sheep  .  .  .  wolves — The 
antipathy  between  them  is  great, 
but  not  greater  than  the  contradic- 
tion between  the  reality  and  the  ap- 
pearance in  false  teachers.  Fruits 
— Not  their  teaching,  but  the  effects 
of  their  teaching,  both  on  themselves 
and  on  others ;  the  effects  viewed 
in  the  light  not  of  morality  merely, 
but  of  the  inward  righteousness 
taught  by  Jesus.     However  correct 


CHAPTER  VII. 


99 


shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  ;  but  he  that  doeth  the 
will  of  my  Father  which  is  in 
heaven. 

22  Many  will  say  to  me  in 
that  day,  Lord,  Lord,  have  we 
not  prophesied  in  tlry  name? 
and  in  thy  name  have  cast  out 


may  be  the  moral  habits  of  the 
teacher  and  of  his  inner  circle  of 
admirers,  the  question  is,  Does  his 
teaching  give  men  more  impressive 
views  of  the  evil  of  sin  and  more 
loving  reverence  for  the  holiness  of 
God?  Apply  the  question  to  the 
propagators  of  modern  "  spiritual- 
ism," to  the  entire  body  of  infidel 
and  semi-infidel  teachers,  and  to  the 
teachers  of  Romanism.  An  illus- 
tration is  drawn  from  nature.  As 
the  nature,  good  or  bad,  of  a  tree  is 
seen  in  its  fruit,  so  the  nature  of  the 
teacher  is  seen  in  the  effects  of  his 
doctrine.  Grapes — The  fruit  of  the 
vine.  They  were  sometimes  of  very 
large  size.  Grapes  of  Eschol  were 
borne  on  a  stick  resting  upon  men's 
shoulders.  Clusters  have  been  seen 
in  Syria  ten  or  twelve  pounds  in 
weight.  There  is  a  vine  "  at  Hamp- 
ton Court  which  covers  a  space  of 
twenty-two  hundred  square  feet." 
"A  bunch  of  Syrian  grapes  was  pro- 
duced at  Wellbeck,  which  weighed 
nineteen  pounds,  and  measured  in 
length  twenty-three  inches,  and 
nineteen  and  a  half  inches  in  its 
greatest  diameter.  It  was  sent  as  a 
present  from  the  Duke  of  Portland 
to  the  Marquess  of  Rockingham,  and 
conveyed  a  distance  of  twenty  miles, 
on  a  staff,  by  four  laborers ;  two  of 
them  bore  it  in  rotation,  thus  afford- 
ing a  striking  illustration  of  the 
proceeding  of  the  spies."  Thorns — 
See  note  on  13  :  7,  22. 

21-23.  Notice  the  related  words, 
prophets,  in  vs.  15,  and  prophesied, 
in  vs.  22.  Jesus,  then,  is  still  re- 
ferring to  the  false  teachers,  -while, 
as  is  evident  from  the  first  two  \\  ords 
in  vs.  24,  Therefore,  whosoever,  he 


devils  ?  and  in  thy  name  done 
many  wonderful  works? 

23  And  then  will  I  profess 
unto  them,  I  never  knew  you  : 
depart  from  me,  ye  that  work 
inquity. 

24  %  Therefore  whosoever 
heareth  these  sayings  of  mine, 


would  have  all,  teachers  and  taught, 
consider  themselves  as  intended. 
Professing  at  the  Day  of  Judgment 
to  have  taught  the  truths  of  the  king- 
dom, and  even  to  have  cast  out  de- 
mons, will  not  be  accepted  by  Christ 
the  Judge  as  evidence  of  qualifica- 
tion for  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  One 
must  have  done  the  will  of  God  (12  : 
50 ;  John  7  :  17)  ;  that  is,  have  at- 
tained to  the  righteousness  enjoined 
in  the  Sermon.  In  that  day — The 
Day  of  Judgment,  which  is  not  in 
this  world,  but  in  the  next.  Lord, 
Lord,  is  not  the  repetition  of  the 
formalist,  but  of  the  zealot.  Whether 
the  term  should  ever  be  applied  to 
Jesus  was  not  long  ago  gravely 
debated  in  a  National  Convention 
of  Unitarians.  Jesus  himself  says 
(John  13:  13),  Ye  call  me  Master, 
and  Lord  :  and  ye  say  well ;  for  so 
I  am.  Cast  out  devils — Not  that 
they  had  actually  done  so ;  for  (Mark 
9  :  39)  no  man  who  shall  do  a  mira- 
cle in  the  name  of  Jesus  can  lightly 
speak  evil  of  him.  See  the  graphic 
account  of  the  failure  to  cast  out  an 
evil  spirit  in  Jesus'  name,  Acts  19  : 
13-16.  Notice  in  vs.  13  the  words 
took  upon  them,  that  is,  attempted. 
See,  also,  the  account  of  Simon  Ma- 
gus in  Acts  8  :  9-24.  Will  profess — 
Will  openly  declare,  in  contrast  with 
their  own  hypocrisy.  /  never  knew 
you — Never  had  any  loving  recog- 
nition of  you  as  mine,  as  you  had 
none  of  me  as  yours.  Depart  from 
me — This  shows  that  the  destruction 
spoken  of  in  vs.  13  is  not  annihila- 
tion. From  me — Therefore  from  all 
who  are  like  me ;  therefore  from 
heaven.  Separation  from  Christ  is 
the  essence  of  hell.    Work  iniquity 


100 


MATTHEW. 


and  doeth  them,  I  will  liken 
him  unto  a  wise  man,  which 
built  his  house  upon  a  rock : 

25  And  the  rain  descended, 
and  the  floods  came,  and  the 
winds  blew,  and  beat  upon  that 
house ;  and  it  fell  not :  for  it 
was  founded  upon  a  rock. 

26  And  every  one  that  hear- 
eth  these  sayings  of  mine,  and 
doeth  them  not,  shall  be  likened 
unto  a  foolish  man,  which  built 
his  house  upon  the  sand  : 


The  disposition  to  do  so  is  still  in 
them,  and,  therefore,  they  are  unfit 
for  the  presence  of  those  whose 
highest  delight  is  to  do  the  will  of 
God. 

24-27.  The  duty  of  doing  as  well 
as  hearing,  and  the  awful  conse- 
quences of  not  doing  what  we  have 
heard,  are  here  graphically  set  forth. 
It  is  not  meritorious  working,  how- 
ever, which  is  inculcated  in  this  word 
do.  The  Sermon  proceeds  upon  the 
assumption  that  men  have  no  natu- 
ral righteousness,  and  that  they 
need  strength  from  heaven  to  attain 
what  is  here  taught.  A  wise  man — 
One  who  adopts  means  which  are 
adapted  to  secure  an  end,  especially 
a  good  end.  Rock — This  is  simply  one 
element  of  the  figurative  descrip- 
tion, and  yet  it  cannot  but  suggest 
Christ,  who  is  elsewhere  distinctly 
represented  as  a  Rock.  Floods — 
Streams.  Rain,  rivers,  winds — Na- 
ture roused  to  exert  itself  in  three 
different  modes,  as  if  bent  on  destroy- 
ing. A  foolish  man — One  that  uses 
bad  means  to  secure  an  end.  Both 
the  wisdom  and  the  folly  involve  a 
large  moral  element.  The  folly  is 
not  so  much  a  difficulty  of  brain  as 
of  heart.  Great  ivas  the  fall  of  it 
— Greater  than  the  fall  of  an  em- 
pire. The  idea  of  doing  the  will  of 
Christ  while  rejecting  or  essentially 
modifying  his  teachings,  is  absurd. 
The  plea  of  amiability  or  of  kind- 


27  And  the  rain  descended, 
and  the  floods  came,  and  the 
winds  blew,  and  beat  upon  that 
house  ;  and  it  fell :  and  great 
was  the  fall  of  it. 

28  %  And  it  came  to  pass, 
when  Jesus  had  ended  these 
sayings,  the  people  were  aston- 
ished at  his  doctrine  : 

29  For  he  taught  them  as 
one  having  authority,  and  not 
as  the  scribes. 


ness  to  the  poor  is  worthless  against 
the  rejection  of  the  Bible  as  a  su- 
pernatural revelation. 

28, 29.  Ended  these  sayings — The 
reference  is  to  all  the  Sermon.  It 
would  appear,  therefore,  that  it  was 
all  delivered  at  one  time,  and  not, 
as  some  say,  at  different  times. 
Doctrine — The  word  is  used  not  in 
the  current  theological  sense,  but  in 
the  sense  of  instruction.  Astonished 
— The  righteousness  which  Jesus 
had  enjoined  was  unlike  what  they 
had  been  accustomed  to  hear.  Not 
as  the  scribes — They  taught  so  su- 
perficial a  righteousness  that  their 
teaching  wanted  "life  and  spirit." 

Reader!  having  completed  the 
examination  of  this  wonderful  dis- 
course,—wonderful,  as  has  been  said, 
for  "that living  spirit  which  inspires 
it ;  that  creative  power  which  ener- 
gizes in  every  sentence,  and  in  the 
whole  structure  and  march  of  the 
discourse  ;  that  vast  oratorical  sweep 
which  in  a  few  brief  words  or  phrases 
now  rises  to  the  loftiest  heights,  and 
now  in  calm  dignity  again  descends ; 
that  sublime  force  of  thought  which 
reaches  even  the  most  distant  truths, 
and  grows  resistless  with  every  step 
of  its  onward  march," — such  ques- 
tions as  these  press  upon  the  atten- 
tion :  1.  Have  I  a  distinct  concep- 
tion of  the  righteousness  required 
of  the  disciples  of  Christ  ?    2.  Have 


CHAPTER   VIII. 


101 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

WHEN  he  was  come  down 
from  the  mountain,  great 
multitudes  followed  him. 


I  earnestly  sought  such  righteous- 
ness? 3.  Have  I  committed  the 
mistake  of  seeking  it  as  means  of 
securing  merit  with  the  Father?  4. 
Or,  have  I  accepted  as  the  founda- 
tion of  it  the  righteousness  of  Christ? 
5.  Have  I  perverted  Christ's  right- 
eousness by  professing  to  rely  upon 
it  for  salvation,  while  remiss  in 
seeking  the  personal  righteousness 
vMeJu  Christ  teaches  in  the  Sermon 
Oft  the  Mount? 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

A   SERIES   OF  MIRACLES. 

781  TJ.C      Midsummer  and  Au- 
tumn, JL.S.  S8. 

Having  presented  Jesus  to  his 
readers  as  the  fulfiller  of  the  ancient 
law,  Matthew  in  this  chapter  and  the 
following  sets  forth  his  claims  as 
evinced  in  his  miracles  :  he  is  doer 
as  weii  as  teacher.  The  miracles 
here  recorded  were  not  wrought  in 
the  order  in  which  they  are  reported. 
This  we  learn  with  the  help  of  the 
other  evangelists.  They  were  se- 
lected and  grouped  by  Matthew,  and 
the  selection  was  happily  made. 
The  cases  are  various.  Leprosy, 
palsy,  fever,  a  tempest,  demoniacal 
possession,  an  issue  of  blood,  blind- 
ness, death  itself,  are  all  shown  to 
have  been  under  the  complete  con- 
trol of  Christ's  will.  Two  cases  of 
possession  are  reported,  but  they  are 
not  alike.  The  two  cases  of  palsy 
are  different,  since  one  is  connected 
with  forgiveness  of  sin,  while  the 
other  is  not.  The  scenes  of  the 
miracles  were  sea  and  land,  house 
and  hill-side.  Some  were  wrought 
on  Jews  and  some  on  Gentiles. 
They  were  wrought  on  persons  of 
different  ages  and  of  both  sexes. 
9* 


2  And,  behold,  there  came 
a  leper  and  worshipped  him, 
saying,  Lord,  if  thou  wilt,  thou 
canst  make  me  clean. 

3  And  Jesus  put  forth  Ms 

One  was  performed  at  such  a  dis- 
tance that  the  subject  was  not  even 
visible  to  the  Saviour's  natural 
eye.  In  no  case  was  there  a  pro- 
cess of  healing :  the  cure  was  in- 
stantaneous. These  miracles — and 
the  same  is  true  of  all  that  are  re- 
ported in  the  Bible — were  not  vio- 
lations of  nature.  Violations  of 
nature,  that  is,  of  "laws"  under 
which  he  himself  placed  nature,  can 
with  no  propriety  be  affirmed  of  the 
Creator.  Miracles  were  merely  inter- 
ferences with  the  usual  course  of  na- 
ture without  disturbing  it.  The  regu- 
larity of  natural  events  is  precisely 
that  which  made  miracles  possible. 
There  is  no  evidence  that  evil 
spirits  ever  worked  miracles,  and 
therefore  the  miracles  of  Jesus  prove 
the  truth  of  the  revelation  which  he 
professed  to  make.  But  his  mira- 
cles had  other  though  subordinate 
ends,  as  the  physical  and  the  spirit- 
ual good  of  the  subject.  The  theory 
that  the  disciples  honestly  mistook 
natural  events  for  miracles  requires 
such  a  method  of  explaining  the  de- 
tails of  the  narratives,  that  it  makes 
them  more  incredible  than  mira- 
cles themselves.  This  is  called  the 
Naturalistic  theory.  The  Mythic 
hypothesis  is  that  by  which  the  nar- 
ratives of  miracles  are  supposed  to 
be  myths,  or  legends,  not  histories. 
How  the  human  mind  could  have 
been  so  imposed  on  as  to  be  willing 
to  accept  fables,  instead  of  the  facts 
which  were  so  fresh  in  their  memo- 
ries, has  never  been  shown.  Such 
narratives  as  these  and  real  myths 
have  so  little  resemblance  that  it  is 
impossible  to  put  them  in  the  same 
class  of  writings.  Read  the  myths 
in  any  of  the  Classical  Dictionaries, 
and  the  difference  will  be  immedi- 
ately seen. 


102 


MATTHEW. 


hand,  and  touched  him,  saying, 
I  will ;  be  thou  clean.      And 


1.  Followed  him — Many  of  them 
only  with  the  feet,  not  with  the 
heart. 

2.  A  leper — Leprosy,  from  a  Greek 
word  meaning  scale,  was  a  disease 
of  the  skin.  It  was  well  known 
among  the  Jews  in  early  times,  and 
in  Lev.  13  :  14  are  sundry  directions 
concerning  the  treatment  of  the  dis- 
ease. It  was  not  always  easy  to 
determine  whether  a  person  was 
affected  by  this  or  by  some  other 
and  milder  disease.  If  suspicion  of 
leprosy  was  awakened,  an  examina- 
tion was  made  by  the  priest,  and  if, 
after  fourteen  days  as  the  extreme 
limit,  the  usual  proofs  of  leprosy 
were  wanting,  the  person  was  pro- 
nounced clean.  Uncleanness  was 
pronounced  upon  him  who  was 
known  to  have  taken  the  disease. 
Lepers  were  required  to  dress  in 
mourning.  Lev.  13  :  45.  They  were 
not  to  come  in  contact  with  other 
persons,  but  were  allowed  to  go 
about  towns  and  even  into  syna- 
gogues. In  Lev.  14  is  prescribed 
what  must  be  done  for  their  recov- 
ery, the  most  important  thing  being 
the  duty  of  appearing  before  the 
priest  and  offering  a  sacrifice.  "The 
disease,  as  it  is  known  at  the  pres- 
ent day,  commences  by  an  eruption 
of  small  reddish  spots  slightly  raised 
above  the  level  of  the  skin,  and 
grouped  in  a  circle.  These  spots 
are  soon  covered  by  a  very  thin, 
semi-transparent  scale  or  epider- 
mis, of  a  whitish  color,  and  very 
smooth,  which  in  a  little  time  falls 
off.  and  leaves  the  skin  beneath  red 
and  uneven.  As  the  circles  increase 
in  diameter  the  skin  recovers  its 
healthy  appearance  toward  the  cen- 
tre ;  fresh  scales  are  formed,  which 
are  now  thicker,  and  superimposed 
one  above  the  other,  especially  at 
the  edges,  so  that  the  centre  of  the 
scale  appears  to  be  depressed.  The 
scales  are  of  a  grayish-white  color, 
and  have  something  of  a  micaceous 


immediately  his  leprosy   was 
cleansed. 


or  pearly  lustre.  The  circles  are 
generally  of  the  size  of  a  shilling  or 
half  crown,  but  they  have  been 
known  to  attain  half  a  foot  in  diame- 
ter. The  disease  generally  affects 
the  knees  and  elbows,  but  sometimes 
it  extends  over  the  whole  body ;  in 
which  case  the  circles  become  con- 
fluent" [flow  together].  "It  does 
not  at  all  affect  the  general  health." 
It  was  not  contagious,  but  it  could 
be  transmitted  from  parent  to  child. 
It  was  regarded  as  incurable.  In 
the  middle  ages  a  terrible  disease 
prevailed  in  Europe  which  was 
called  leprosy,  but  the  true  name 
of  which  is  elephantiasis.  "Leper 
or  lazar-houses  abounded  every- 
where :  as  many  as  two  thousand 
are  said  to  have  existed  in  France 
alone." 

The  directions  which  Moses  gave 
for  the  treatment  of  lepers  were  not 
merely  for  sanitary  ends.  Cere- 
monial uncleanness  was  attributed 
to  the  leper,  and  this  doubtless  sym- 
bolized the  great  and  painful  fact 
of  moral  uncleanness.  "The  leper 
was  the  type  of  one  dead  in  sin  :  the 
same  emblems  are  used  in  his  mis- 
ery as  those  of  mourning  for  the 
dead."  Worshipped — Bowed  down 
to  him,  after  the  oriental  style.  Gen. 
44  :  14.  Moses  cried  unto  the  Lord 
for  Miriam ;  this  man  cries  unto  Je- 
sus for  himself.  If  thou  wilt — Not 
a  sign  of  unbelief,  but  a  form  of 
begging  him  to  be  willing  to  do  what 
he  believes  he  has  power  to  do. 

3.  Put  forth  his  hand — A  ' '  proph- 
ecy "  of  the  coming  good.  How  un- 
like mesmerism !  The  cure  was  ef- 
fected by  the  same  sort  of  power 
that  raised  the  dead,  and  no  dead 
man  has  been  raised  by  mesmeric 
power.  Touched  him — This  was 
forbidden  by  the  law  of  Moses.  Lev. 
5:  3.  Why  forbidden?  That  the 
ceremonial  uncleanness  might  not 
be  communicated.  But  as  Jesus 
made  the  leper  clean  by  touching 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


103 


4  And  Jesus  saith  unto  him, 
See  thou  tell  no  man  ;  but  go 
thy  way,  shew  thyself  to  the 
priest,  and  offer  the  gift  that 


him,  it  was  impossible  that  the  act 
should  make  him  unclean.  Thus 
the  act  was  a  violation  of  the  Mo- 
saic precept  only  in  appearance. 
Such  is  the  freedom  even  of  the  law 
when  not  slavishly  understood.  Put- 
ting forth  the  hand  was  simply  an 
outward  sign  of  the  inward  act  of 
the  will.  Was  cleansed — 1.  Cured 
of  the  disease ;  2.  Restored  to  cere- 
monial purity.  The  distinction 
which  the  Mosaic  economy  made 
between  things  clean  and  things 
unclean  was  intended  to  teach  the 
people  the  holiness  of  God  and  their 
own  sinfulness.  The  method,  as 
related  to  a  people  withtheir  degree 
of  knowledge,  shows  divine  wis- 
dom ;  3.  Possibly,  also,  renewed  in 
heart. 

4.  See — It  gives  importance  to  the 
command.  Such  a  prohibition  was 
not  laid  upon  every  one  whom  he 
healed  (Mark  5  :  19) ;  but  generally 
Jesus  required  that  persons  should 
refrain  from  saying  much  concern- 
ing their  cure.  Why?  1.  His  na- 
ture forbade  him  from  appearing  to 
press  his  claims  in  a  noisy,  demon- 
strative manner.  Matt.  12  :  16-20. 
This  may  have  been  the  principal 
reason.  2.  Had  not  Jesus  thus  re- 
strained the  excitable,  wonder-seek- 
ing nature  of  the  people,  their  at- 
tention would  have  been  completely 
turned  from  the  truth  he  preached 
to  the  miracles  he  wrought.  3.  In 
some  cases  the  injunction  of  silence 
may  have  sprung  from  the  desire  to 
promote  the  spiritual  good  of  the 
healed  by  saving  him  from  the  spirit 
of  boasting.  In  addition  to  these 
reasons  there  existed  in  the  case  of 
the  leper  one  of  a  more  specific  kind. 
Having  been  cleansed,  his  first  duty 
was  to  secure  from  the  priest  in  Je- 
rusalem a  statement  of  his  freedom 
from  the  disease,  and  to  make  the 


Moses  commanded,  for  a  testi- 
mony unto  them. 

5   %  And  when   Jesus   was 
entered  into  Capernaum,  there 


required  offering.  Lev.  14.  For  a 
testimony  unto  them — To  the  peo- 
ple, that  the  priest  regarded  him  as 
healed.  Thus  even  the  prejudiced 
priest  shall  be  made  to  give,  unwit- 
tingly, testimony  to  the  miraculous 
power  of  Jesus.  Had  this  been  the 
only  miracle  which  Jesus  wrought,  it 
would  have  been  sufficient  evidence 
of  his  Messiahship.  "I  will!" 
What  authority !  and  independence ! 
and  consciousness  of  power  to  do  it 
in  his  own  strength !  The  apostles 
healed  in  the  name  of  Jesus ;  Jesus 
in  his  own  name. 

5.  The  miracle  which  we  have 
just  examined  is  considered  by  some 
as  having  taken  place  several  weeks 
earlier  than  the  miracle  wrought 
upon  the  centurion's  servant.  See 
Mark  1 :  40 ;  Luke  5  :  12.  Others 
think  it  was  performed  just  before ; 
that  is,  after  Jesus  had  descended 
from  the  mountain,  but  before  he  had 
entered  Capernaum.  Was  entered — 
This  is  one  of  several  similar  in- 
stances of  bad  grammar  in  our  com- 
mon English  version.  Strictly 
speaking  it  implies  that  some  other 
person  or  persons  entered  Jesus  in- 
to the  city  as  a  father  enters  his  son 
at  college,  or  as  a  vessel  is  entered 
at  the  custom  house ;  but  this  is  not 
the  meaning  which  Matthew  in- 
tended. Had  entered  is  the  proper 
rendering  of  the  Greek,  and  is  cor- 
rect English.  Capernaum — See  note 
on  4  :  13.  It  was  probably  a  mili- 
tary station.  Centurion — a  Roman 
officer  commanding  a  century,  which 
was  originally  a  hundred  men,  but 
afterwards  from  fifty  to  a  hundred. 
Sixty  centuries  made  a  Roman  le- 
gion. The  number  of  legions  in  a 
Roman  army  varied.  The  number 
of  centurions  mentioned  in  the  New 
Testament  is  at  least  four  :  1.  The 
one  mentioned  in  the  verse  before 


104 


MATTHEW. 


came  unto  him  a  centurion,  be- 
seeching him, 

6  And  saying,  Lord,  my  ser- 
vant lieth  at  home  sick  of  the 
pals}^,  grievously  tormented. 

7  And  Jesus  saith  unto  him, 
I  will  come  and  heal  him. 

8  The  centurion  answered 
and  said,  Lord,  I  am  not  wor- 
thy that  thou  shouldest  come 
under  my  roof:  but  speak  the 


us ;  2.  The  one  who  is  named  in 
connection  with  the  scenes  at  the 
crucifixion;  3.  Cornelius,  of  Acts 
10;  4.  Julius,  to  whom  Paul  was 
entrusted  when  sent  to  Rome  as  a 
prisoner.  As  Dr.  Hackett  remarks, 
in  Smith's  Dictionary,  these  all  ap- 
pear in  a  favorable  light.  The  cen- 
turion before  us,  though  a  Gentile, 
had  no  faith  in  the  gods  which  were 
worshipped  in  the  larger  part  of  the 
Roman  Empire.  He  may  have 
adopted  the  Jewish  religion,  and  so 
have  been  a  proselyte.  He  was  at 
any  rate  favorably  disposed  toward 
it ;  for  he  had  built  the  Jews  of  Ca- 
pernaum a  synagogue.  Luke  7  :  5. 
Came  iinto  him — Not  himself,  but 
by  messengers,  elders  of  the  Jews. 
Luke  7  :  3.  Jesus  can  be  found  in 
the  city  as  well  as  in  the  desert  and 
on  the  mountain.  Soldiers  not  less 
than  others  may  go  to  Christ.  Have- 
lock  was  a  man  of  much  prayer ;  so 
have  been  many  others  of  military 
renown. 

6.  Servant — Not  one  of  the  sol- 
diers, but  a  common  servant,  per- 
haps a  slave.  Palsy — See  note  on 
4:  24,  last  paragraph.  Grievously 
tormented — Not  with  devils,  but  suf- 
fering excruciatingly  with  the  dis- 
ease. He  was  threatened  with  im- 
mediate death.  Luke  7  :  2.  There 
are  some  features  in  this  man's  case 
which  are  not  generally  found  in 
palsy;  a  disease  in  which  men  do 
not  suffer  much. 

7.  /  will — That  settled  the  ques- 
tion.    The  preliminary  act  of  going 


word    only,    and   my   servant 

shall  be  healed. 

9  For  I  am  a  man  under  au- 
thority, having  soldiers  under 
me  :  and  I  say  to  this  man,  Go, 
and  he  goeth  ;  and  to  another, 
Come,  and  he  cometh  ;  and  to 
my  servant,  Do  this,  and  he 
doeth  it. 

10  When  Jesus  heard  it,  he 
marvelled,  and   said    to   them 


to  the  centurion's  house  was  not 
done.  Christ  is  not  bound  to  one 
set  of  acts  preliminary  to  great  re- 
sults. 

8-10.  Here  are  the  two  great  quali- 
ties, humility  and  faith,  each  wonder- 
fully developed.  Humility:  "He 
knew  and  felt  himself,  as  a  heathen, 
to  be  out  of  the  fold  of  God,  a 
stranger  to  the  commonwealth  of 
Israel;  and  therefore  unworthy  to 
receive  under  his  roof  the  Redeemer 
of  Israel."  Faith:  Jesus  is  now 
near  the  house.  Luke  7  :  6.  The 
fact  of  his  proximity  would  have 
been  seized  by  some  as  a  staff  for 
their  weak  faith  to  lean  upon.  The 
centurion  needs  no  such  support. 
Speak  the  word — The  true  reading 
— see  this  explained  in  the  note  on 
5  :  44,  last  paragraph — requires  the 
rendering,  only  say  in  a  word.  The 
centurion  felt  that  it  was  not  indis- 
pensable that  Jesus  should  come  to 
his  house.  The  argument  in  vs.  9 
is  this  :  My  relations  are  such  that  I 
am  able  to  believe  that  whatever 
command  you  shall  give,  even  at 
this  distance  from  my  servant,  will 
be  obeyed.  But  what  were  the  re- 
lations? 1.  He  was  under  authori- 
ty. He  was  therefore  accustomed 
to  obey.  2.  He  was  in  authority, 
and  was  therefore  accustomed  to  re- 
ceive obedience.  He  had  no  doubt, 
therefore,  that  a  word  from  such  a 
being  as  Jesus  would  secure  the 
healing  of  his  servant.  So  great 
faith — Faith  consists  of  two  ele- 
ments :  the  assent  of  the  intellect 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


105 


that  followed,  Verily  I  say  un- 
to you,  I  have  not  found  so 
great  faith,  no,  not  in  Israel. 

1 1  And  I  say  unto  you,  That 
many  shall  come  from  the  east 
and  west,  and  shall  sit  down 
with  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and 
Jacob,  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven : 

12  But  the  children  of  the 


and  the  trust  of  the  heart.  The  in- 
tellect assents  to  just  so  much  of 
the  truth  of  religion  as  God  makes 
known,  and  the  heart  trusts  him 
with  respect  to  it.  The  definition, 
then,  is  equally  applicable  to  Abel, 
Abraham,  the  centurion,  and  Paul. 
God  had  communicated  certain 
truths  respecting  Jesus  Christ  to  the 
intellect  of  the  centurion.  To  these 
his  intellect  gave  assent,  and  to 
Christ  himself  his  heart  yielded 
trust.  The  mere  assent  of  the  in- 
tellect to  the  truth  is  not  the  faith 
which  the  Old  Testament  and  the 
New  extol.  He  marvelled — Not  that 
he  had  hitherto  been  ignorant  of  the 
centurion's  faith.  He  vrept  at  the 
grave  of  Lazarus,  but  he  knew  some 
days  before  he  began  to  weep  that 
Lazarus  was  dead.  Jesus  had  the 
characteristics  of  man  though  he 
was  God.  Not  in  Israel — Israel, 
that  is,  the  descendants  of  Jacob, 
ought  to  have  had  great  faith ;  for 
to  Israel  God  had  made  known  more 
truth  pertaining  to  himself  than  to 
all  others  of  the  race,  but  the  cen- 
turion, a  Roman,  one  of  a  people  to 
whom  no  supernatural  revelation 
had  been  given,  had  greater  faith 
than  Israel. 

11,12.  The  king dom  of  heaven — 
The  kingdom  of  heaven  perfected ; 
that  is,  heaven  itself.  From  the  east 
and  west — Gentiles  of  all  nations. 
Isa.  45:  6;  49:  5,  6.  Thus  from 
China  on  the  east  to  California  on  the 
west  is  the  prophecy  in  the  constant 
process  of  fulfilment.  Sit  down — 
Kecline.    It   should  have  been   so 


kingdom  shall  be  cast  out  into 
outer  darkness  :  there  shall  be 
weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth. 

13  And  Jesus  said  unto  the 
centurion,  Go  thy  way  ;  and  as 
thou  hast  believed  so  be  it  done 
unto  thee.  And  his  servant 
was  healed  in  the  self-same 
hour. 

14  %  And  when  Jesus  was 

rendered.  See  the  posture  explained 
in  the  note  on  9  :  10.  With  Abra- 
ham— This  is  a  figure  by  which  the 
Jewish  mind  was  accustomed  to 
think  of  the  happiness  of  heaven. 
The  children  of  the  kingdom — Of 
the  Jewish  theocracy,  which  was  a 
type  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Messiah. 
Not  all  of  them  shall  be  cast  out; 
for  a  remnant  shall  be  saved.  See 
Rom.  11.  Outer  darkness — The 
figure  of  a  feast  is  still  preserved, 
the  guests  being  supposed  to  be  in  a 
brilliantly  lighted  room,  and  so  the 
unbelieving  Jews  are  conceived  as 
being  in  the  darkness  outside.  Weep- 
ing and  gnashing  imply  both  misery 
and  rage.  This  Gentile  was  a  true 
descendant  of  Abraham,  for  he  had 
Abraham's  faith.  Great  opportuni- 
ties and  little  improvement.  The 
last  first. 

13.  Said  unto  the  centurion — Un- 
to the  messengers  whom  he  had 
sent.  Luke  7 :  10.  The  self-same 
hour — No  importance  should  be 
given  to  the  peculiar  strength  of  the 
expression.  It  is  stronger  than  the 
original  requires.  In  that  hour  is 
more  correct.  The  short  prayer  of 
this  Gentile  soldier  brings  a  quicker 
answer  than  the  long  prayers  of  the 
scribes  and  Pharisees. 

14.  Peter's  house — Peter  after- 
ward said,  We  have  left  all.  If  he 
was  the  owner  of  the  house,  and  the 
owner  when  he  said  this,  yet  there 
is  no  misrepresentation  in  saying 
that  he  had  left  all.  Every  man, 
the  wealthiest,  is  required  to  hold 
all  things  at  God's  disposal.  This  is 


108 


MATTHEW. 


come  into  Peter's  house,  he 
saw  his  wife's  mother  laid,  and 
sick  of  a  fever. 

15  And  he  touched  her  hand, 
and  the  fever  left  her  :  and  she 
arose,  and  ministered  unto 
them. 


the  essential  thing,  without  which 
no  man  can  be  a  disciple.  As  the 
house  was  in  Capernaum,  Peter 
must  have  moved  from  Bethsaida, 
which  is  called  (John  1 :  44)  the  city 
of  Andrew  and  Peter.  His  wife's 
mother — His  mother-in-law.  The 
apostle,  who  is  claimed  as  the  found- 
er of  a  church  whose  popes,  bishops, 
and  priests  are  not  allowed  to  mar- 
ry, was  himself  married,  and  he  took 
his  wife  with  him  on  his  missionary 
tours.  See  1  Cor.  9  :  5.  The  fact 
that  the  mother-in-law,  after  her 
miraculous  cure,  ministered,  served 
at  the  table,  is  no  evidence  that  the 
daughter  was  dead.  The  mother 
would  naturally  h^,ve  desired  to  do 
this  in  gratitude.  Laid — Lying,  that 
is,  in  bed. 

15.  Touched  her  hand — This  is 
another  instance  of  an  outward  sign 
of  the  inward  act  of  the  will.  She 
arose,  etc. — She  was  not  only  cured 
of  the  fever,  but  was  saved  from  the 
weakness  which  invariably  follows 
recovery  from  fever  when  effected 
by  physicians.  Men  healed  of  the 
malady  of  sin  should  minister  to 
those  around  them.  The  church  is 
doing  this  more  freely  than  ever, 
but  tens  of  thousands  of  her  mem- 
bers care  only  to  be  ministered 
unto. 

16.  When  the  even  (evening)  was 
come — Mark  (1 :  32)  gives  the  time 
more  definitely  :  And  at  even  when 
the  sun  did  set.  We  must  infer 
from  Mark  (1 :  21)  that  it  was  the 
evening  immediately  following  the 
Jewish  Sabbath,  which  began  at 
sunset  and  ended  at  sunset.  Peo- 
ple brought  their  sick  friends,  then, 
to  Jesus  immediately  after  the  Sab- 
bath.    The  explanation    is  to    be 


16  If  When  the  even  was 
come,  they  brought  unto  him 
many  that  were  possessed  with 
devils  :  and  he  cast  out  the  spir- 
its with  his  word,  and  healed 
all  that  were  sick  : 

17  That  it  might  be  fulfilled 

found  in  the  self-righteous  scrupu- 
losity with  which,  under  the  false 
teaching  of  the  scribes,  they  re- 
garded the  day.  The  stricter 
Pharisees  undertook  to  determine 
the  instant  when  the  Sabbath  be- 
gan. "They  therefore  called  the 
time  between  the  actual  sunset  and 
the  appearance  of  three  stars,  and 
the  Talmudists  decided  that  '  if  on 
the  evening  of  the  Sabbath  a  man 
did  any  work  after  one  star  had 
appeared,  he  was  forgiven ;  if  after 
the  appearance  of  two,  he  must 
offer  a  sacrifice  for  a  doubtful  trans- 
gression; if  after  three  stars  were 
visible,  he  must  offer  a  sin  offer- 
ing : '  the  order  being  reversed  for 
works  done  on  the  evening  after 
the  actual  Sabbath."  According  to 
Thomson,  this  form  of  intense  self- 
righteousness  still  exists  among 
many  of  the  Jews  of  Palestine. 
"A  profane  and  most  quarrelsome 
fellow  once  handed  me  his  watch 
to  wind  just  after  sunset  on  Friday 
evening.  It  was  now  his  Sabbath, 
and  he  could  not  work."  The  Rab- 
bis teach  that  a  Jew  "  must  not 
carry  so  much  as  a  pocket-handker- 
chief, except  within  the  walls  of  his 
city.  If  there  are  no  walls,  it  fol- 
lows, according  to  their  perverse 
logic,  that  he  must  not  carry  it  at 
all.  To  avoid  this  difficulty  here  in 
Safed  "  [a  city  near  the  Sea  of  Gal- 
ilee], "they  resort  to  what  they 
call  Eruv.  Poles  are  set  up  at  the 
ends  of  the  streets,  and  strings 
stretched  from  one  to  the  other. 
This  string  represents  a  wall,  and  a 
conscientious  Jew  may  carry  his 
handkerchief  anywhere  within  these 
strings."  Possessed — See  on  4 :  24. 
Cast    out   the  spirits — "  Spiritual* 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


107 


which  was  spoken  by  Esaias 
the  prophet,  saying,  Himself 
took  our  infirmities,  and  bare 
our  sicknesses. 

18  f  Now  when  Jesus  saw 
great  multitudes  about  him,  he 
gave  commandment  to  depart 
unto  the  other  side. 

19  And    a    certain     scribe 


ism,"  with  its  shameful  accompani- 
ments, will  in  like  manner  be  cast 
out  of  men  when  God  has  tolerated 
it  as  long  as  he  sees  to  be  best. 

17.  Esaias — Isaiah  53  :  4 :  He 
hath  borne  oar  griefs  and  carried 
our  sorrows.  It  will  be  impossible 
to  give  even  the  briefest  outline  of 
what  has  been  written  relative  both 
to  the  passage  in  Isaiah  and  to  Mat- 
thew's use  of  it.  The  question  has 
been,  In  what  sense  did  Jesus 
take  our  infirmities,  our-  diseases, 
and  bear  our  sicknesses  or  sor- 
rows. The  answer  should  be  al- 
lowed to  depend  not  on  our  pre- 
conceived theological  opinions,  but 
upon  a  careful  and  extended  con- 
sideration of  the  manner  in  which 
the  original  words  are  used.  We 
have  no  doubt  that  those  are  cor- 
rect who  have  affirmed,  after  the 
most  thorough  and  critical  investi- 
gation, that  it  is  not  a  removal  away 
from  v.s  of  our  infirmities  and  sick- 
nesses that  the  words  express,  but  a 
removal  by  bearing  them  as  a  bur- 
den first  upon  himself.  "These 
sicknesses  and  discords  of  man's 
inner  being,  every  one  of  which  as 
a  real  consequence  of  sin,  and  as 
being  at  every  moment  contempla- 
ted by  him  as  such,  did  press  with 
a  living  pang  into  the  holy  soul  of 
the  Lord." — Trench. 

Notice  how  our  Lord  spent  this 
Sabbath, — not  in  rest,  not  in  exclu- 
sive private  communion  with  God, 
but  in  labor  for  the  good  of  others. 
Mark  1 :  21-31.  Spiritual  activity 
on  the  Sabbath  in  his  followers, 
therefore,   must  be    acceptable   to 


came,  and  said  unto  him,  Mas- 
ter, I  will  follow  thee  whither- 
soever thou  goest. 

20  And  Jesus  saith  unto 
him,  The  foxes  have  holes,  and 
the  birds  of  the  air  have  nests  ; 
but  the  Son  of  man  hath  not 
where  to  lay  his  head. 

21  And  another  of  his  dis- 


Christ.  Let  us  bear  with  cheerful- 
ness the  fatigue  which  such  activity 
may  produce. 

18.  Jesus  could  not  consent  to  be 
always  surrounded  by  a  crowd.  It 
was  neither  for  his  own  good  nor 
for  theirs.  The  other  side — Of  the 
Sea  of  Galilee.  See  note  on  4 : 
18.  The  number  of  cities  then,  as 
now,  was  much  smaller  on  the  east- 
ern side. 

19.  Before  entering  the  ship  he  is 
accosted  by  a  scribe.  See  concern- 
ing the  scribes  the  note  on  5  :  20. 
Master — Teacher.  /  will  follow  thee 
— Very  few  of  the  scribes  would 
have  been  willing  to  make  such  an 
avowal.  Most  of  them  were  hos- 
tile to  Jesus.  There  is  an  air  of 
self-confidence  even  in  this  man 
that  does  not  promise  well.  It  has 
been  suggested  that  it  may  have 
been  Judas  Iscariot;  but  where 
nothing  is  known  silence  is  a  virtue. 

20.  The  reply  of  our  Lord  tends 
to  confirm  the  suspicion  that  the 
man's  spirit  was  not  that  of  a  true 
disciple.  He  seems  not  to  have 
counted  the  cost.  Foxes  have  holes 
— Foxes  were  accustomed,  as  they 
still  are,  to  burrow  in  the  ground 
and  to  resort  to  old  ruins.  Nests — 
Haunts,  or  dwelling-places,  one  of 
which  was  the  mustard-plant 
When  it  is  grown,  it  is  the  greatest 
among  herbs,  and  becometh  a  tree  : 
so  that  the  birds  of  the  air  come 
and  lodge  in  the  branches  thereof. 
13:  32.  The  Son  of  man— See 
note  on  12 :  8,  second  paragraph, 
Not  where  to  lay  his  head — We 
should  be  careful  not  to  put  into 


108 


MATTHEW. 


ciples  said  unto  him,  Lord,  suf- 
fer me  first  to  go  and  bury  my 
father. 

22  But  Jesus  said  unto  him, 
Follow  me  ;  and  let  the  dead 
bury  their  dead. 


these  words,  as  has  sometimes 
been  done,  more  than  they  were  in- 
tended to  express,  as  the  idea  of 
suffering  from  abject  poverty. 
There  is  reason  to  believe  that 
Jesus  generally  had  both  food  and 
shelter.  But  he  had  no  home  of 
his  own.  After  he  left  his  parents, 
he  was  entirely  dependent  on  others 
for  the  supply  of  his  temporal 
wants.  He  that  made  all  surren- 
ders all,  that  those  who  have  noth- 
ing may  have  all. 

21,  22.  Disciples — In  the  wider 
sense,  not  implying  the  faith  which 
works  by  love.  Many  who  followed 
Jesus  were  disciples  only  in  the  feet. 
Bury  my  father — Now  lying  dead. 
To  suppose  the  father  still  living, 
though  aged,  and  the  request  to  be 
this,  Suffer  me  to  take  care  of  my 
father  till  he  shall  have  died  and 
been  buried,  does  little  toward  soft- 
ening the  apparent  severity  of  the 
Saviour's  requisition ;  for  even  upon 
that  supposition  one  might  say,  as 
the  infidel  Celsus,  of  the  second  cen- 
tury, did  say, that  Jesus  "demanded 
what  was  inconsistent  with  duty  to 
parents."  Let  the  dead  bury  their 
dead — This  is  to  be  explained  by  a 
well-known  figure  of  rhetoric,  em- 
ployed also  by  uninspired  writers,  by 
which  a  word  used  in  one  sense  is 
repeated  in  a  different  sense.  The 
meaning  may  be  expressed  thus  : 
Let  those  who  are  dead  in  sin  bury 
those  who  are  dead  physically.  As 
to  the  alleged  severity  of  the  requi- 
sition, he  who  enters  into  the  spirit 
of  our  Lord's  teachings  will  have  no 
difficulty  in  seeing  that  Jesus  is  here 
dealing  with  a  man  who  had  made 
no  thorough  consecration  of  himself 
to  his  service.  To  such  a  man  it 
was  proper  that  the  severest  possi- 


23  %  And  when  he  was  en- 
tered into  a  ship,  his  disciples 
followed  him. 

24  And,  behold,  there  arose 
a  great  tempest  in  the  sea, 
insomuch    that   the    ship    was 

ble  test  should  be  applied.  The  re- 
quirement is  similar  to  that  in  which 
one  Avas  commanded  to  sell  all  his 
property  and  give  to  the  poor  in  or- 
der to  become  a  disciple.  Had  Je- 
sus not  seen  that  the  rich  man's  state 
of  mind  was  such  as  to  require  the 
test,  he  would  have  allowed  him  to 
keep  his  property ;  and  had  he  not 
seen  that  this  man's  state  was  such 
as  to  require  the  test  applied  to  him, 
he  would  have  allowed  him  to  bury 
his  father.  The  test,  therefore,  is 
not  essentially  severer  than  is  ap- 
plied to  all  who  profess  a  willing- 
ness to  become  followers  of  Christ. 
Jesus  must  have  all,  and  have  all 
immediately.  To  do  something  else 
first  is  Avhat  love  cannot  ask. 

23.  A  ship—&QQ  note  on  14 :  13, 
under  the  same  word.  Discijiles — 
In  the  narrowest  sense,  that  is,  the 
twelve  apostles,  as  they  were  after- 
ward called.  We  shall  find  these 
fishermen  less  at  home  on  the  sea 
than  the  carpenter's  son. 

24.  A  great  tempest — "Small  as 
the  lake  is,"  says  Thomson,  "  and 
placid,  in  general,  as  a  molten  mir- 
ror, I  have  repeatedly  seen  it  quiver, 
and  leap,  and  boil  like  a  caldron, 
when  driven  by  fierce  winds  from 
the  eastern  mountains,  and  the 
waves  ran  high, — high  enough  to 
fill  or  'cover'  the  ships,  as  Matthew 
has  it.  In  the  midst  of  such  a  gale 
'  calmly  slept  the  Son  of  God,'  in 
the  hinder  part  of  the  ship,  until 
awakened  by  the  terrified  disciples." 
"  Those  winds  are  not  only  violent, 
but  they  come  down  suddenly,  and 
often  when  the  sky  is  perfectly 
clear."  "  To  understand  the  causes 
of  these  sudden  and  violent  tem- 
pests, we  must  remember  that  the 
lake    lies   low, — six    hundred    feet 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


109 


covered  with  the  waves :    but 
he  was  asleep. 

25  And  his  disciples  came 
to  him,  and  awoke  him,  say- 
ing, Lord,  save  us :  we  perish. 

26  And  he  saith  unto  them, 
Why  are  ye  fearful,  O  ye  of  lit- 
tle faith?      Then  he  arose  and 


lower  than  the  ocean ;  that  the  vast 
and  naked  plateaus  of  the  Jaulanrise 
to  a  great  height,  spreading  back- 
ward to  the  wilds  of  the  Hauran, 
and  upward  to  snowy  Hermon ;  that 
the  water-courses  have  cut  out  pro- 
found ravines  and  wild  gorges,  con- 
verging to  the  head  of  the  lake,  and 
that  these  act  like  gigantic  funnels 
to  draw  down  the  cold  winds  from 
the  mountain." 

Was  covered  with  the  ivaves — 
Was  becoming  covered,  say  some,  so 
as  to  "  obviate  all  necessity  for  qual- 
ifying these  words."  But  what  ne- 
cessity for  qualifying  them  ?  An  offi- 
cer of  a  brig  has  just  informed  the 
writer  that  on  his  passage  from  Cu- 
ba to  Boston,  the  waves,  in  a  storm 
of  not  very  uncommon  power,  cov- 
ered the  deck,  and  completely  im- 
mersed himself  and  men.  This  little 
ship  may  have  been  similarly  swept 
by  the  waves  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee. 
But  he  teas  asleep — How  great  the 
contrast  between   the  Lord's  state 


and  that  of  the 


But  the  sleep 


was  not  less  natural  than  the  tem- 
pest. He  who  could  wake  the  dead 
could  have  passed  from  Bethlehem 
to  Calvary  without  sleep,  but  he  was 
God  manifest  in  the  flesh.  The  well- 
known  wakefulness  which  the  com- 
mander and  officers  of  a  ship  have 
in  a  storm  is  in  wonderful  contrast 
with  this  sleeping  of  Jesus.  Christ 
felt  safe  in  the  wildest  rockings  of 
nature,  but  not,  like  a  child,  through 
ignorance  of  physical  forces.  He 
knew  what  terrific  power  dwells  in 
one  drop  of  water.  Jesus  and  Jonah, 
each  in  a  storm  at  sea.  Let  the  Sab- 
bath-school teacher  speak  of  the 
differences. 

10 


and   there   was   a  great 


rebuked   the    winds    and   the 

sea ; 

calm. 

27  But  the  men  marvelled, 
saying,  What  manner  of  man 
is  this,  that  even  the  winds 
and  the  sea  obe}'-  him  ! 

28  %  And    when    he     was 


25,26.  Lord,  save  us  :  we  perish 
— Here  are,  1.  Consciousness  of 
danger;  2.  Faith  in  Jesus.  Yet 
their  faith  was  not  perfect.  Their 
little  faith,  however,  was  better 
than  none ;  for  it  leads  them  to  cry, 
Lord,  save !  Had  it  been  perfect, 
they  would  not  have  cried  at  all. 
They  all  cried.  United  prayer  is 
duty.  Then  he  arose — The  sub- 
limity of  the  act  is  surpassed  only 
by  that  which  created  light.  Rebuked 
implies  personification  of  the  winds 
and  the  sea.  Nature  can  take  dif- 
ferent postures  of  reverence  before 
her  great  Creator.  The  idea  of 
Lange  that  ' '  the  ultimate  ground  of 
this  rebuke  lay  in  the  fact  that  the 
disturbances  of  nature  were  caused 
by  unclean  spirits,"  is  without  suf- 
ficient foundation.  How  much  more 
obedient  to  their  Lord  are  winds  and 
waves  than  the  human  will  unre- 
newed !  Yet  when  Jesus  Christ 
speaks,  what  a  change  comes  over 
the  boisterous  passions  of  a  Saul,  an 
Augustine,  a  Luther,  a  John  Bun- 
yan ! 

27.  The  men — The  disciples,  and, 
if  there  were  sailors  on  board,  them 
also.  What  manner  of  man  refers 
to  nature  and  character.  This  mira- 
cle must  have  greatly  confirmed  the 
disciples'  faith  in  Jesus,  if  not  as  the 
Messiah,  yet  as  a  being  endowed 
with  some  special  divine  authority. 
The  ship  in  the  storm  suggestive  of 
the  Christian  and  of  a  Christian 
church  in  peril.  The  result  full  of 
comfort  to  every  believer. 

28.  Into  the  country  of  the  Gerge- 
senes — Two  different  cities  have  been 
claimed  as  the  locality  where  this 
remarkable  miracle  was  wrought: 


110 


MATTHEW. 


come  to  the  other  side  into 
the  country  of  the  Gerge- 
senes,  there  met  him  two  pos- 
sessed with  devils,  coming 
out  of  the   tombs,  exceeding 


Gadara  and  Gergesa.  Barnes  says 
that ' '  Gadara  was  a  city  not  far  from 
the  Lake  of  Genncsareth,"  and  that 
"Gergesa  was  a  city  ahont  twelve 
miles  to  the  south-east  of  Gadara,  and 
about  twenty  miles  to  the  east  of  the 
Jordan."  On  the  contrary,  Gadara 
is  ten  miles  from  the  lake,  a  great 
distance,  as  we  shall  see,  consider- 
ing what  occurred.  Gergesa  is  now 
regarded  as  much  more  probably  to 
be  recognized  in  the  ruins  found  by 
Thomson,  seen  by  a  few  later  trav- 
ellers, on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
lake,  and  called  by  the  natives  Ker- 
sa  or  Gersa.  These  ruins  are  a  lit- 
tle west  of  north  from  Gadara,  and 
near  the  lake.  Thomson  forcibly 
states  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
Gadara.  The  swine  "must  have  run 
down  the  mountain  for  an  hour  and  a 
half,  forded  the  deep  Jarmuk,  quite 
as  formidable  as  the  Jordan  itself,  as- 
cended its  northern  bank,  and  raced 
across  a  level  plain  several  miles 
before  they  could  reach  the  nearest 
margin  of  the  lake, — a  feat  which  no 
herd  of  swine  would  be  likely  to 
achieve,  even  though  they  were  pos- 
sessed." In  his  "Illustrations  of 
Scripture,"  Dr.  Hackett  considers 
that  the  conditions  of  the  narrative 
could  have  been  naturally  fulfilled 
in  the  region  of  Gadara,  but  in  the 
American  edition  of  Smith's  Dic- 
tionary, 1867,  he  evidently  regards 
the  vicinity  of  the  ruins  of  Gersa  as 
the  more  probable  scene  of  the  mir- 
acle. He  quotes  from  Mr.  Tris- 
tram's "Land  of  Israel":  "The 
bluff  behind  is  so  steep  and  the 
shore  so  narrow,  that  a  herd  of  swine 
rushing  frantically  down  must  cer- 
tainly have  been  overwhelmed  in 
the  sea  before  they  could  recover 
themselves.  While  the  tombs  of 
Gadara    are  peculiarly  interesting 


fierce,  so  that  no  man  migh\» 
pass  by  that  wa3r. 

29  And,  behold,  they  cried 
out,  saying,  What  have  we  to 
do  with  thee,  Jesus,  thou  Son 


and  remarkable,  yet  the  whole  re- 
gion is  so  perforated  everywhere 
by  these  rock-chambers  of  the  dead, 
that  we  may  be  quite  certain  that  a 
home  for  the  demoniac  will  not  be 
wanting,  whatever  locality  be  as- 
signed for  the  events  recorded  by 
the  evangelists."  According  to 
Thomson,  "the  walls"  [of  Gersa] 
"  can  be  traced  all  round."  "It  is 
within  a  few  rods  of  the  shore,  and 
an  immense  mountain  rises  directly 
above  it,  in  which  are  ancient  tombs. 
.  .  .  The  lake  is  so  near  the  base 
of  the  mountain,  that  the  swine 
rushing  madly  down  it  could  not 
stop,  but  would  be  hurried  on  into 
the  water  and  drowned."  "This 
discovery  of  the  site  of  Gergesa," 
says  Andrews,  "removes  all  topo- 
graphical difficulties  from  the  sa- 
cred narrative." 

Possessed — See  note  on  4  :  24. 
Coming  out  ofthetombs — Concern- 
ing the  Jewish  tombs  see  note  on 
27:  60.  "I  have  often  met," 
says  Tristram,  "in  the  outskirts  of 
Caiffa  "  [Haifa,  at  the  foot  of  Mount 
Carmel]  "  a  maniac  who  dwells 
in  similar  tombs."  Quoted  by  Dr. 
Hackett  in  Smith's  Bible  Diction- 
ary. Exceeding  fierce — They  were 
desperate  cases.  No  man  might — 
No  man  coidd-p&ss  that  way.  There 
is  no  road  which  sin  does  not  make 
dangerous.  These  demoniacs  are 
a  painfully  exact  likeness  of  men 
in  the  worst  stage  of  sin,  and  to 
that  stage  all  sin  tends.  There 
met  him  two.  Sinners  of  the  worst 
stage  like  to  be  together. 

29.  The  devils  are  quicker  to 
recognize  the  divine  nature  of  Jesus 
than  are  some  human  beings. 
What  have  we  to  do  with  thee/ — 
This  form  of  words  occurs  several 
times  in  the  New  Testament.   Jesus 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


Ill 


of  God?  art  thou  come  hither 
to  torment  us  before  the  time  ? 

30  And  there  was  a  good 
way  off  from  them  a  herd  of 
many  swine  feeding. 

31  So  the  devils  besought 
him,  saying,  If  thou  cast  us 
out,  suffer  us  to  go  away  into 
the  herd  of  swine. 

32  And  he  said  unto  them, 
Go.  And  when  they  were 
come  out,  they  went  into  the 
herd  of  swine :  and,  behold, 
the  whole   herd  of  swine  ran 


used  it  in  addressing  his  mother  at 
the  marriage  festival  in  Cana.  It 
means  substantially  this  :  "  What 
have  we  in  common?  Our  rela- 
tions are  wholly  different.  ...  It 
always  implies  reproof,  although 
sometimes  a  friendly  one." — Tho- 
lucTc.  Before  the  time — The  devils 
speak  through  the  men.  So  strong 
is  their  aversion  to  the  worse  tor- 
ment which  they  are  conscious  of 
deserving,  that  Jesus  seems  to  them 
to  have  come  before  the  time  ap- 
pointed for  their  final  doom.  They 
dread  the  loss  of  the  satisfaction 
which  they  take  in  tormenting 
others.  When  they  can  torment 
neither  men  nor  swine,  their  own 
misery  will  be  terribly  increased. 
Son  of  God — On  the  meaning  of 
these  very  important  words,  see 
the  note  on  16  :  15-17. 

30, 31.  Many  swine — Mark  (5  :  13) 
says  there  were  about  two  thousand. 
A  good  way  off — Not  several  miles, 
as  would  have  been  the  case  had 
Gadara  been  the  locality,  but  some 
distance  up  the  hill.  The  distance 
may  be  judged  in  part  by  the  sup- 
posed capacity  of  the  animals  to 
run.  Suffer  its  to  go — Some  wri- 
ters, as  Barnes  and  Dr.  Whedon, 
would  defend  our  Lord  against  the 
cavils  of  objectors  by  the  consider- 
ation that  he  did  not  command  the 
evil  spirits  to  go  into  the  swine,  but 


violently  down  a  steep  place 
into  the  sea,  and  perished  in 
the  waters. 

33  And  they  that  kept 
them  fled,  and  went  their 
ways  into  the  city,  and  told 
everything,  and  what  was  be- 
falleir  to  the  possessed  of  the 
devils. 

34  And,  behold,  the  whole 
city  came  out  to  meet  Jesus  : 
and  when  they  saw  him,  they 
besought  him  that  he  would 
depart  out  of  their  coasts. 


only  permitted  them  to  do  so.  No 
defence  is  needed.  Jesus  Christ,  as 
the  Son  of  God,  had  the  right  to 
send  the  devils  anywhere,  and  no 
man  has  the  right  to  call  that  right 
in  question.  Possibly  the  swine 
were  kept  by  Jews,  and  in  that 
case  they  deserved  to  lose  them, 
for  God  had  long  before  forbidden 
swine's  flesh  to  the  Jews ;  but  as 
no  man  knows  that  the  owners  were 
Jews,  the  defence  is  good  for  noth- 
ing. The  truth  is,  after  all,  that 
according  to  the  oldest  manuscripts 
the  true  reading  in  the  Greek  re- 
quires the  rendering  Send  us  away, 
instead  of,  Suffer  us  to  go.  The 
devils  prefer  swine  to  hell. 

32.  Go — Not  only  out  of  the  men, 
but  into  the  swine.  The  mercy  of 
the  former  is  not  in  the  least  tar- 
nished by  severity  in  the  latter. 
According  to  Paige,  an  American 
Universalis!  commentator,  the  de- 
moniacs were  merely  crazy  men, 
and  their  insanity  was  transferred 
by  Jesus  to  these  two  thousand 
pigs  !  Perished — The  swine.  The 
devils,  alas  !  are  still  alive. 

33.  Fled—"  The  devils  could  not 
overtake  them,"  says  Bengel.  It 
is  not  doing  justice  to  their  sagacity 
to  suppose  that  they  tried  to  do  so  : 
Jesus  was  still  not  far  off'. 

31.  The  ivhole  city — So  many  of 
the  people  went  out  that  it  is  rhe- 


112 


MATTHEW. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

AND  he  entered  into  a  ship 
and  passed  over,  and  came 
into  his  own  city. 

2  And,  behold,  they  brought 
to  him  a  man  sick  of  the  palsy, 
lying  on  a  bed  :  and  Jesus  see- 
ing their  faith  said  unto  the 
sick  of  the  palsy :  Son,  be  of 
good  cheer ;  thy  sins  be  for- 
given thee. 

3  And,  behold,  certain  of 
the  scribes  said  within  them 


torically  correct  to  say  that  the 
wliole  city  went  out.  Besought  him — 
TVTiat  a  fearful  prayer !  They  make 
no  examination  of  his  claims.  They 
attempt  no  compromise.  They 
must  be  altogether  rid  of  him. 
Many  in  our  times  would  rather  lose 
Christ  than  swine. 

With  the  exception  of  the  raising 
of  the  dead,  this  miracle,  in  its  two- 
fold character,  is  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  that  Jesus  wrought. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

THE    SERIES    OF    MIRACLES    CON- 
TINUED. 

1.  Jesus  now  returns  to  the  west- 
ern side  of  the  sea.  His  own  city — 
Capernaum,  called  his  own  city  be- 
cause it  was  his  place  of  residence. 

2,  3.  Palsy — See  note  on  4 :  24, 
last  paragraph.  Their  faith — Both 
of  the  sick  man  and  of  his  friends. 
See  Mark  2  :  4  for  evidence  that  it 
was  very  great.  Son — A  form  of 
address  which,  like  daughter  in  vs. 
22,  is  a  beautiful  illustration  of  the 
tenderness  of  the  Saviour's  sympa- 
thy with  the  afflicted.  Thy  sins — 
This  is  not  decisive  that  his  disease 
was  caused  by  his  sins,  but  it  makes 
it  probable.  He  was  evidently  op- 
pressed by  the  consciousness  of  sin. 
Be  forgiven — Are  forgiven.     The 


selves,  This  man  blasphem 
eth. 

4  And  Jesus  knowing  their 
thoughts  said,  Wherefore 
think  ye  evil  in  your  hearts? 

5  For  whether  is  easier,  to 
say,  Thy  sins  be  forgiven 
thee ;  or  to  say,  Arise,  and 
walk  ? 

6  But  that  ye  may  know 
that  the  Son  of  man  hath 
power  on  earth  to  forgive 
sins,  (then  saith  he  to  the  sick 
of  the   palsy,)  Arise,  take  up 

original  is  in  the  indicative  mode. 
It  is  not,  however,  a  mere  announce- 
ment of  forgiveness,  but  an  affirma- 
tion that  he  now  forgives.  Said  with- 
in themselves — Thought.  Blasphemy 
—See  note  on  12  :  31,  32.  They  con- 
sidered him  as  speaking  blasphemy 
because  he  seemed  to  them  to  as- 
sume the  prerogative  of  God.  Such 
language  teas  blasphemy  if  Christ 
was  not  God.  But  such  direct  for- 
giveness of  this  man's  sin  is  proof 
of  the  Lord's  deity.  He  forgives 
sin,  however,  as  God  in  human  flesh, 
as  the  Son  of  man  on  earth. 

4.  Knowing  their  thoughts — See 
John  2  :  24,  25.  He  knew  them,  not 
by  shrewdly  guessing  them,  but  by 
a  power  which  no  created  being  has. 

5,  6.  Whether— An  old  form  of 
pronoun,  equivalent  to  the  more 
modern  which.  Easier  to  say  the 
one,  or  to  say  the  other.  We  can  see 
no  greater  ease  in  doing  the  one 
than  the  other.  "It  would  be  easier 
for  a  man,  equally  ignorant  of  French 
and  Chinese,  to  claim  to  know  the 
last  than  the  first;  not  that  the  lan- 
guage of  itself  is  easier ;  but  that,  in 
the  one  case,  multitudes  could  dis- 
prove his  claim ;  and,  in  the  other, 
hardly  a  scholar  or  two  in  the  land." 
—  Trench.  So  the  scribes  might  ob- 
ject, It  is  easy  enough  to  say,  Thy 
sins  are  forgiven,  but  what  is  the 
proof  that  it  has  been  done  ?    Jesus 


CHAPTER  IX. 


113 


thy  bed,   and  go   unto   thine 
house. 

7  And  he  arose,  and  de- 
parted to  his  house. 

8  But  when  the  multitudes 
saw  it,  they  marvelled,  and 
glorified  God,  which  had  giv- 
en such  power  unto  men. 

9  %  And  as  Jesus  passed 
forth  from  thence,  he  saw  a 
man  named  Matthew,  sitting 
at  the  receipt  of  custom  :  and 
he    saith    unto    him,    Follow 


takes  them  at  their  thought,  and 
proceeds  to  do  what  is  harder,  name- 
ly, to  say,  that  is,  to  claim  the  power 
to  say,  Rise  up  and  walk.  If  at  his 
word  the  man  shall  he  cured  of  his 
malady,  it  will  prove  that  the  claim 
to  forgive  sins  is  founded  on  truth. 
Thy  bed — Bedsteads  seem  not  to 
have  heen  wholly  unused  in  Pales- 
tine; but  the  poorer  people  used 
mats,  or  their  outside  garment,  for 
a  bed.  That  ye  may  know — Mira- 
cles, then,  are  proofs  of  Christ's  au- 
thority to  found  a  religion  which 
shall  be  characterized  for  true  for- 
giveness of  sin.  Jesus  forgives  sin 
now  that  he  is  in  heaven.  Son  of 
man — See  on  12  :  6,  8,  second  para- 
graph. Arise — But  he  was  com- 
pletely disabled.  True.  But  it  is 
reasonable  to  make  the  attempt  to 
do  what  to  the  world  may  seem  to  be 
absurd,  on  condition  that  Christ 
commands  us  to  do  it.  One  may 
have  formed  such  habits  of  sin  that 
repentance  may  seem  to  be  impossi- 
ble, but  if  God  commands  one  to  re- 
pent, repentance  is  a  perfectly  rea- 
sonable act. 

8.  Such  power  unto  m,en — The 
multitude,  though  not  yet  recogniz- 
ing the  deity  of  Jesus,  are  struck 
with  the  fact  that  uncommon  power 
has  been  manifested. 

9.  From  thence — The  point  of  de- 
parture is  not  definitely  stated.  The 
event  is  probably  related  out  of  its 

10* 


me.     And  he    arose,  and  fol- 
lowed him. 

10  %  And  it  came  to  pass, 
as  Jesus  sat  at  meat  in  the 
house,  behold,  many  publi- 
cans and  sinners  came  and 
sat  down  with  him  and  his 
disciples. 

11  And  when  the  Pharisees 
saw  ft,  they  said  unto  his  dis- 
ciples, Why  eateth  your  mas- 
ter with  publicans  and  sin- 
ners ? 


chronological  order.  Matthew — See 
note  on  10  :  3.  At  the  receipt  of  cus- 
tom— Probably  near  Capernaum,  on 
the  greatroadfromDamascus,  which 
crossed  the  Jordan  north  of  the  Sea 
of  Galilee  and  ran  down  the  western 
side  through  the  city.  The  customs 
or  toll  winch  Matthew  was  here 
accustomed  to  collect  was  for  the 
Roman  government,  of  which,  as 
should  be  borne  in  mind,  the  Jews 
were  subjects.  Concerning  the  class 
of  persons,  publicans,  to  which  Mat- 
thew belonged,  see  note  on  5  :  46. 
Follow  me — A  call  to  active  disciple- 
ship.  The  call  to  apostleship  seems 
to  have  been  made  later.  He  may 
have  been  a  disciple  in  heart  before. 
10,  11.  There  is  great  difference 
of  opinion  concerning  the  question 
whether  Matthew's  feast  and  the 
events  recorded  in  connection  with 
it  are  in  the  chronological  order. 
We  shall  assume  as  on  the  whole 
probable  that  they  are.  Sat  at  meat 
— Reclined  at  table.  Sitting  was 
the  earlier  posture.  Reclining  on 
conches  came  with  a  higher  civiliza- 
tion. "Generally  speaking,  only 
three  persons  reclined  on  each 
couch,  but  occasionally  four  or  even 
five.  The  couches  were  provided 
with  cushions  on  which  the  left  el- 
bow rested  in  support  of  the  upper 
part  of  the  body,  while  the  right  arm 
remained  free :  a  room  provided 
with  these  was  described  as  '  spread,' 


114 


MATTHEW. 


12  But   when   Jesus    heard    that,  he  said  unto  them,  They 


Mark  14  :  15,  A.  V.  "  [Authorized 
version],  "  '  furnished.'  As  several 
guests  reclined  on  the  same  couch, 
each  overlapped  his  neighbor,  as  it 
were,  and  rested  his  head  on  or  near 
the  breast  of  the  one  who  lay  behind 
him.  The  ordinary  arrangement  of 
the  couches  was  in  three  sides  of  a 
square,  the  fourth  being  left  open 
for  the  servants  to  bring  up  the 
dishes.  The  couches  were  denomi- 
nated respectively  the  highest,  the 
middle,  and  the  lowest, — the  terms 


being  suggested  by  the  circumstance 
of  the  guest  who  reclined  on  anoth- 
er's bosom  always  appearing  to  be 
below  him.  The  protoklisia  ['up- 
permost rooms']  (Matt.  23:  6), 
which  the  Pharisees  so  much  cov- 
eted, was  not,  as  the  authorized  ver- 
sion represents  it,  '  the  uppermost 
room,''  but  the  highest  seat  in  the 
highest  couch, — the  seat  numbered 
1  in  the  annexed  diagram." — 
Smith's  Bible  Dictionary. 


Middle  couch. 


Lowest. 
Middle. 
Highest 

4.    5.     6. 

Highest.  7. 

3.  Lowest. 

Middle.     8. 

2.  Middle. 

Lowest.    9. 

1.  Highest. 

Publicans  and  sinners — The  feast 
was  made  for  Jesus  by  Matthew  in 
his  own  house.  The  company  was 
great  (Luke  5  :  29),  and,  in  addition 
to  the  Saviour  and  his  disciples,  con- 
sisted of  persons  with  whom  he  had 
been  classed,  and  with  whom,  doubt- 
less, he  had  been  more  or  less  ac- 
customed to  associate.  By  sinners 
is  meant  persons  of  dissolute  life. 
When  the  Pharisees  saw  it — If  by 
the  Pharisees  seeing  Jesus  with  such 
persons,  is  meant  seeing  him  with 
the  natural  eye  rather  than  learning 
the  fact  a  little  time  after,  it  follows 
that  tbey  either  had  been  invited  to 
the  entertainment,  or  had  happened 
in,  or  had  been  looking  in  upon  the 
party  from  the  door.  The  first  is 
quite  improbable.  That  sort  of  in- 
tercourse with  that  sort  of  persons 


would  have  spoiled  all  their  right- 
eousness. Either  of  the  other  acts 
would  not  have  been  incongruous 
with  oriental  freedom.  Said  unto 
his  disciples — "The  Pharisees," 
says  Bengel,  "acted  in  an  under- 
hand manner,  cunningly,  or  at  least 
with  cowardice.  To  the  disciples 
they  said,  Why  does  your  Mas- 
ter do  so  ?  to  the  Master,  Why  do 
your  disciples  do  so  ?  "  This  is  cor- 
rect; but  sometimes  the  Pharisees 
addressed  their  captious  criticisms 
of  Jesus  to  Jesus  himself.  A  large 
dinner  or  tea  party  is  either  right  or 
wrong,  according  to  the  end  for 
which  it  is  called  and  the  conduct 
of  those  assembled.  The  style  of 
conversation  at  Matthew's  feast,  had 
Jesus  not  been  there,  would  proba- 
bly have  been  very  worldly,  and  it 


CHAPTER  IX. 


115 


that  be  whole  need  not  a  phy- 
sician, but  they  that  are  sick. 
13  But  go  ye  and  learn  what 
that  meaneth,  I  will  have 
mercy,  and  not  sacrifice :  for 
I    am   not   come   to    call   the 


would  not  be  strange  if  it  had  been 
very  gross. '  Jesus  being  present, 
conversation  upon  worldly  things 
must  have  been  felt  to  be  out  of 
place,  and  vulgarity  would  have 
blushed  to  open  its  mouth.  Chris- 
tians need  not  fear  either  disgrace 
or  contamination  in  associating  for 
a  good  purpose  with  bad  men.  An 
important  crisis  in  our  Lord's  min- 
istry: he  turns  from  Pharisees  to 
publicans. 

12,  13.  Here  are  both  a  defence  of 
himself  and  a  rebuke  of  the  Phar- 
isees, expressed  first  in  a  figure  and 
then  without  a  figure.  To  call  the 
righteous  —  It  has  been  common 
(see  Barnes)  to  explain  these  words 
as  meaning  righteous  by  pretence — 
a.s  the  Pharisees  indeed  were ;  in 
other  words,  it  has  been  held  that 
Jesus  argues  with  them  from  their 
opinion  of  themselves.  "You  think 
you  are  righteous.  Very  well,  I 
did  not,  then,  come  to  call  you." 
The  explanation  will  be  seen  to  be 
unnecessary  if  we  consider  that  in 
the  Greek  there  is  no  article.  I 
am  not  come  to  call  righteous  men 
is  the  true  rendering.  This  re- 
moves all  appearance  of  seeming  to 
admit  that  there  is,  by  natural 
birth,  such  a  class  of  persons  as 
the  righteous.  Go  ye  and  learn — 
You  have  come inignorance,  though 
you  have  come  supposing  that  you 
know.  Go — Go  away,  and  learn; 
give  yourselves  up  to  an  examination 
of  your  own  Scriptures.  He  quotes 
Hosea  G  :  6.  I  will  have — I  desire. 
Jesus  is  not  here  putting  mercy  and 
sacrifice  (the  latter  meaning  their 
entire  ceremonial  system)  in  oppo- 
sition, but  he  teaches  that  mercy 
stands  first  in  importance.  A  simi- 
lar form  of  expression  may  be  seen 


righteous,  but  sinners  to  re- 
pentance. 

14  %  Then  came  to  him  the 
disciples  of  John,  saying,  Why 
do  we  and  the  Pharisees  fast 
oft,  but  thy  disciples  fast  not  ? 

in  John  6  :  27.  Labor  not  for  the 
meat  which  perisheth,  but  for  that 
meat  which  endureth  unto  everlast- 
ing life.  The  original  of  the  words, 
to  repentance,  is  wanting  in  several 
of  the  best  manuscripts.  It  is  gen- 
uine, however,  in  Luke  5 :  32. 
The  services  of  public  worship 
must  not  be  neglected  under  pre- 
tence that  religion  consists  merely 
of  mercy  to  our  fellow-men.  Mercy 
to  our  fellow-men  must  not  be  want- 
ing under  the  plea  that  religion 
consists  in  worshipping  God. 

14.  Then  came — Perhaps  imme- 
diately after  the  conversation  with 
the  Pharisees.  Scribes  (Luke  5 : 
30,33)  and  Pharisees  (Mark  2  :  18) 
united  with  the  disciples  of  John  in 
this  criticism  of  our  Lord.  How 
singular  the  union !  These  may 
have  been  some  of  John's  more 
legal  disciples,  they  not  having  rec- 
ognized the  Messiahship  of  Jesus. 
There  is  no  proof  that  their  fasting,  as 
some  have  affirmed,  was  in  conse- 
quence of  John's  imprisonment.  Fast 
oft — See  note  on  6  :  16,  to  which  may 
be  added  that  the  fasting  of  which 
they  speak  was  without  any  divine 
authority.  The  stricter  Pharisees 
fasted  twice  a  week  :  Luke  18  :  12. 
"The  number  of  annual  fasts  in 
the  present  Jewish  Calendar  has 
been  multiplied  to  twenty-eight." 
Why? — The  question  refers  not  to 
their  own  fasting,  but  to  the  neg- 
lect of  it  by  Christ's  disciples. 
The  Saviour's  laxity  in  contrast 
with  their  own  strictness  is  the 
point.  With  all  their  fasting  they 
were  less  spiritual  than  the  disci- 
ples of  Jesus.  Ritualism  may 
give  birth  to  laxity,  and  utter  bold 
reproofs  against  those  who  do  not* 
accept  its  teachings. 


116 


MATTHEW. 


15  And  Jesus  said  unto 
them,  Can  the  children  of  the 
bride-chamber  mourn,  as  long 
as  the  bridegroom  is  with 
them?  but  the  days  will  come, 
when  the  bridegroom  shall  be 
taken  from  them,  and  then 
6hall  they  fast. 


15.  Clothing  the  thought  in 
imagery  drawn  from  customs  at- 
tending oriental  marriages,  Jesus 
replies  that  there  is  no  reason  why 
his  disciples  should  fast.  He  is 
still  with  them.  By  and  by,  when 
he  is  taken  from  them,  they  will  be 
so  sorrowful  that  there  will  be 
more  fitness  in  fasting.  Children 
of  the  bride-chamber  —  Special 
friends  who  attended  the  bride- 
groom when  he  set  forth  from  his 
house  to  go  for  his  betrothed.  See 
note  on  25  :  1-11  concerning  mar- 
riage customs  among  the  Jews.  Jesus 
must  not  be  understood  as  teaching 
that,  after  his  return  to  heaven,  his 
followers  in  all  future  ages  of  the 
church  are  to  live  in  sorrow.  It 
gives  no  authority  to  the  teachings 
of  the  Romanists  that  the  church 
should  have  many  fasts,  Lent,  etc., 
etc.  Jesus  merely  states  the  fact 
that  his  present  disciples  will  be 
thrown  into  sorrow,  for  the  time 
being,  by  his  death.  He  elsewhere 
teaches  that  the  children  of  the 
New  Covenant  should  be  charac- 
terized for  joy.  Christ  is  the  bride- 
groom; the  church  is  the  bride. 
How  calmly  though  not  as  yet  very 
clearly  does  Jesus  foretell  his 
death ! 

16,  17.  By  two  additional  figures, 
Jesus  still  teaches,  in  the  case  of 
his  disciples,  the  unfitness  of  fast- 
ing. It  would  be  an  attempt  to 
combine  the  spiritual  religion  of  the 
new  dispensation  with  the  antiqua- 
ted forms  of  the  old,  and  would 
certainly  result  in  disaster.  The 
metaphors  in  which  the  thought  is 
expressed  are  "  as  simple  and  in- 


16  No  man  putteth  a  piece 
of  new  cloth  unto  an  old  gar- 
ment ;  for  that  which  is  put 
in  to  fill  it  up  taketh  from  the 
garment,  and  the  rent  is  made 
worse. 

17  Neither  do  men  put  new 
wine  into  old  bottles  :  else  the 


telligible  as  they  are  wonderfully 
profound  and  full  of  fine  meaning." 
New  cloth — Unfulled,  and  therefore 
whenever  it  shall  "full"  it  will 
tear  away  the  old  and  make  a 
worse  rent.  The  new  cloth  repre- 
sents the  teachings  of  Jesus  Christ 
which  lead  to  joyousness  of  spirit. 
Old  garment — The  unauthorized 
legal  fasting  to  which  these  disci- 
ples of  John  and  the  Pharisees 
were  attached;  and  this  may  be 
considered  as  standing  for  the  en- 
tire system  of  self-righteous  work- 
ing which  had  long  been  growing 
up  in  the  nation.  To  place  the 
chief  dependence  upon  that  which 
implied,  at  least  in  their  system  of 
fasts,  a  sorrowful  state,  and  to  re- 
gard the  doctrines  of  the  new 
teacher,  which  were  adapted  to 
awaken  joy,  as  subordinate,  was 
like  patching  an  old  garment  with 
unfulled  cloth.  It  was  unfitting, 
incongruous.  The  rent  made 
worse — This  has  been  lamentably 
fulfilled  in  the  history  of  all  State 
Churches;  e.  g.,  the  Church  of 
England  (Episcopal),  and  the 
Church  of  Scotland  (Presbyterian), 
and  the  Lutheran  Church  in  Ger- 
many. The  persistent  effort  which 
has  been  made  in  the  Church  of 
England  and  in  the  Episcopal  Church 
of  the  United  States  to  patch  the 
evangelical  system  into  the  legal 
in  the  form  of  Puseyism,  is  cause 
of  sincere  grief  to  every  lover  of 
pure  Christianity.  The  rent  is 
made  worse,  in  a  multitude  of  indi- 
vidual cases,  when  the  soul  attempts 
to  mend  its  long-worn  robe  of  self- 
righteousness  with  some  little  patch 


CHAPTER  IX. 


117 


bottles  break,  and  the  wine 
runneth  out,  and  the  bottles 
perish  :  but  they  put  new  wine 
into  new  bottles,  and  both  are 
preserved. 

18  1  While  he  spake  these 
things  unto  them,  behold, 
there   came    a   certain    ruler, 


taken  out  of  the  gospel.  The  old 
garment  must  be  thrown  away,  and 
a  wholly  new  garment  procured. 

By  the  next  metaphor,  the 
thought  is  advanced  a  little.  New 
wine — Unfermented.  Concerning 
the  wines  of  Palestine,  see  note  on 
John  2 :  10.  See  also  the  latter 
part  of  the  note  on  26 :  27.  Old. 
bottles — "  Vessels  of  metal,  earthen, 
or  glass  ware  for  liquids  were  in 
use  among  the  Greeks,  Egyptians, 
Etruscans,  and  Assyrians,  and  also 
no  doubt  among  the  Jews,  especially 


and  worshipped  him,  saying, 
My  daughter  is  even  now 
dead  :  but  come  and  lay  thy 
hand  upon  her,  and  she  shall 
live. 

19  And  Jesus  arose,  and  fol- 
lowed him,  and  so  did  his  dis- 
ciples. 


WA3fER-SKINS. 

in  later  times."  But  the  bottles 
here  referred  to  were  skins  of  ani- 
mals, and  were  doubtless  made  as 
leathern  "bottles"  are  now  made 
in  Western  Asia.  "When  the 
animal  is  killed,  they  "  [Arabs]  "cut 
off  its  feet  and  its  head,  and  they 
draw  it  in  this  manner  out  of  the 
skin,  without  opening  its  belly.  .  .  . 
They  afterwards  sew  up  the  places 
where  the  legs  were  cut  off  and  the 
tail,  and  when  it  is  filled  they  tie  it 
about  the  neck."  Dr.  Hackett  saw 
many  such  skin  bottles  in  his  travels 
in  Egypt  and  Syria.  He  says : 
"  That  bottles  of  this  shape  .  .  . 
were  common  in  the   days  of  the 


patriarchs  and  the  Pharaohs,  I 
had  interesting  proof  in  one  of  the 
tombs  near  the  Ghizeh  pyramids. 
Among  the  figures  on  the  walls  I 
saw  a  goat-shaped  bottle,  as  exactly 
like  those  now  seen  in  Cairo,  as' if 
it  had  been  painted  from  one  of 
them  by  a  modern  artist."  The 
bottles  break — Becoming  old,  they 
will  not  expand  as  the  wine  fer- 
ments. New  wine,  therefore,  must 
be  put  into  new  skins.  The  point 
is  still  this,  that  the  reason  why  his 
disciples  do  not  fast  is,  that  there 
would  be  no  fitness  in  doing  so. 
He  is  with  them,  and  therefore  they 
should  rej  oice  rather  than  fast.  If 
this  explanation  exhausts  the 
meaning  which  Jesus  intended,  as 
perhaps  it  does,  yet  it  is  in  keep- 
ing with  the  spirit  of  the  words  to 
say  that  the  gospel  cannot  be  re- 
strained by  the  stiff  ceremonies  of 
Phariseeism.  Not  the  forms  of 
even  the  old,  divinely  appointed, 
economy,  though  once  required, 
will  answer.  The  few,  simple,  elastic 
forms  which  Jesus  authorized  are 
those  which  suit  the  free,  living  spirit 
of  the  gospel.  Christ  must  be  re- 
ceived exclusive  of  all  destructive 
combination  with  the  dried  forms 
of  legalism.  It  would  be  contrary 
to  our  Lord's  teaching  in  his  Sermon 
on  the  Mount  to  suppose  that  he  is 
here  setting  Christianity  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  spirit  of  the  Old  Cove- 
nant. 

18, 19.  While  he  spake— While  he 
was  speaking  these  things  to  John's 
disciples.  There  came  a  certain  ruler 
— According  to  the  latest  critical 
edition  of  the  Greek  Testament,  we 
should  here  read,  There  came  in  a 


118 


M ATI  HEW. 


20  f  And,  behold,  a  woman, 
which  was  diseased  with  an 
issue  of  blood  twelve  years, 
came  behind  him,  and  touched 
the  hem  of  his  garment : 

21  For  she  said  within  her- 
self, If  I  may  but  touch  his 
garment,  I  shall  be  whole. 


ruler,  that  is,  into  Matthew's  house. 
Ruler — That  officer  of  the  synagogue 
that  presided  over  the  elders  of  the 
synagogue.  Worshipped — Bow5d 
down.  Even  now  dead — Has  just 
now  died.  Mark  says,  Lieth  at  the 
point  of  death  ;  Luke,  She  lay  a  dy- 
ing. She  was  not  then  dead,  but 
was  dying;  and  as  Jesus  very  soon 
received  a  message  (Mark  5 :  35) 
that  she  was  actually  dead,  Matthew, 
making  no  report  of  the  coming  of 
the  messenger,  seems  to  be  under 
a  kind  of  necessity  to  report  the  fact 
of  the  death  just  at  this  point.  Such 
was  the  freedom  which  the  Holy 
Spirit  granted  him  under  the  power 
of  inspiration.  But  come — Though 
his  faith  is  great,  it  is  not  so  great 
as  that  of  the  centurion,  for  the  bit- 
ter believes  that  Jesus  can  cure  nis 
servant  without  coming;  yet  the 
centurion  is  a  Gentile,  and  this  man 
is  a  son  of  Abraham.  Followed  him 
— Was  following.  He  had  not  yet 
reached  the  house. 

20,21.  Behold — It  was  a  new  case, 
arresting  the  Lord's  steps  on  his  way 
to  the  house  of  death.  To  the  ruler 
every  moment  of  the  delay  must  have 
seemed  an  hour,  but  should  the  child 
die,  Jesus  is  conscious — and  how 
calm  in  the  consciousness ! — of 
power  to  grapple  with  death  itself. 
Twelve  years  of  malady,  and  that 
malady  making  her  by  the  law  un- 
clean, poverty  induced  by  protracted 
medical  treatment  (Mark  5 :  26), 
and  despair  of  help  from  human 
sources,  cannot  but  touch  the  Sav- 
iour's heart.  Behindhim — Timidity, 
caused  partly  by  her  reverence,  and 
partly,  perhaps,  by  her  disease.  The 
hem— The  fringe.  Num.  15  :  38,  39. 


22  But  Jesus  turned  him 
about,  and  when  he  saw  her, 
he  said,  Daughter,  be  of  good 
comfort ;  thy  faith  hath  made 
thee  whole.  And  the  woman 
was  made  whole  from  that 
hour. 

23  And   when    Jesus    came 

"  It  was  in  the  first  instance  the  or- 
dinary mode  of  finishing  the  robe, 
the  ends  of  the  threads  composing 
the  woof  being  left  in  order  to  pre- 
vent the  cloth  from  unravelling." 
This  woman,  like  the  Jews  generally 
(see  note  on  23  :  5,  last  paragraph), 
seems  to  have  attached  great  sanctity 
to  the  fringe.  There  may  have  been 
mixed  with  her  faith  some  errone- 
ous views  of  the  Saviour's  miracu- 
lous power.  Said  within  herself — 
There  is  something  affecting  in  the 
silence  of  her  effort.  Touched — Ac- 
cording to  the  Mosaic  law,  she  was 
unclean.  Her  uncleanness  was  com- 
municable. In  touching  Jesus,  there- 
fore, she  was  guilty  of  violating  the 
letter  of  the  law. 

22.  Of  good  comfort — Of  good 
cheer :  take  courage.  Her  faith 
made  her  whole,  not  as  an  element 
of  character,  not  because  it  had  es- 
sential merit,  but  as  the  act  by  which 
she  looked  away  from  herself  to 
Christ.  No  pilot  steers  by  the  light 
on  his  own  vessel.  The  brazen 
monument  which  Eusebius,  about 
300  A.D.,  says  was  standing  in  his 
time,  and  which  was  then  believed 
to  have  been  erected  by  this  woman 
in  honor  of  her  deliverer,  is  re- 
garded by  Dr.  Robinson  as  more 
probably  erected  in  honor  of  some 
emperor. 

23.  This  work  of  mercy  being  done, 
Jesus  proceeds  at  once  to  the  case 
which  called  him  from  the  house  of 
feasting  to  the  house  of  mourning. 
Minstrels — Flute-players,  hired  for 
the  occasion.  The  practice  is  still  con- 
tinued in  some  oriental  countries, 
though  its  expensiveness  confines  it 
chiefly  to  the  more  wealthy.     "It 


CHAPTER  IX. 


119 


into  the  ruler's  house,  and  saw 
the  minstrels  and  the  people 
making  a  noise, 

24  He  said  unto  them,  Give 
place :  for  the  maid  is  not 
dead,  but  sleepeth.  And  they 
laughed  him  to  scorn. 

25  But  when  the  people 
were   put   forth,  he   went   in, 


was  incumbent  on  even  the  poorest 
Israelite,  at  the  death  of  his  wife 
to  provide  at  least  two  pipers  and 
one  woman  to  make  lamentation." 
Speaking  of  the  deaths  which  oc- 
curred when  Joppa  was  taken  by  the 
Romans,  Josephus  says,  "And  a 
great  many  hired  mourners  with 
their  pipes."  Making  a  noise — 
Lane,  speaking  of  the  modern  Egyp- 
tians, says  :  "After  death  the  women 
of  the  family  raise  cries  of  lamenta- 
tion called  welweleh  or  wilwae,  ut- 
tering the  most  piercing  shrieks,  and 
calling  upon  the  name  of  the  de- 
ceased, O  my  master!  O  my  re- 
source !  O  my  misfortune !  O  my 
glory !  The  females  of  the  neigh- 
borhood come  to  join  with  them  in 
this  conclamation :  generally,  also, 
the  family  send  for  two  or  more  ned- 
dcbbehs,  or  public  wailing  women." 

24.  Give  place — He  requests  the 
flute-players  and  the  people  to  with- 
draw. Not  dead,  but  sleepeth — This 
he  affirms  in  consciousness  both  of 
his  power  and  his  purpose  to  restore 
her  to  life.  Her  death  was  tran- 
sient, and  therefore  she  was  not 
dead  in  the  sense  in  which  almost  all 
mankind  die.  For  that  reason  he 
affirms  that  she  sleeps.  As  Dr. 
Bar tlett  well  expresses  it,  ' '  Physical 
death  includes  not  only  the  depart- 
ure, but  the  returnless  departure, 
of  the  spirit :  in  this  sense  she  was 
not  dead."  Jesus  represents  Laza- 
rus as  sleeping,  though  he  afterward 
tells  the  disciples  that  he  is  dead.  It 
was  in  that  case,  also,  the  transient 
nature  of  the  death  that  suggests  the 
peculiar  appropriateness  of  the  term 
sleep.     Laughed  him  to  scorn — Not 


and  took  her  by  the  hand,  and 
the  maid  arose. 

26  And  the  fame  hereof 
went  abroad  into  all  that  land. 

27  f  And  when  Jesus  de- 
parted thence,  two  blind  men 
followed  him,  crying,  and  say- 
ing, Thou  Son  of  David,  have 
mercy  on  us. 

only  laughed,  but  laughed  in  deris- 
ion at  what  he  had  just  said.  As 
Dr.  Wayland  once  remarked,  they 
have  not  laughed  much  since.  Mod- 
ern infidelity  laughs  at  much  that 
Jesus  said  and  did,  yet  claims  to  be 
eminently  Christian.  These  mourn- 
ers are  not  disposed  to  think  that  all 
their  piping  and  clamor  have  been 
premature.  Perhaps,  also,  they  have 
an  eye  to  their  pay. 

25,  26.  The  people— The  crowd 
(so  also  in  vs.  23),  put  out,  not  by 
force,  but  by  command.  It  included 
all  but  the  parents  and  the  three 
disciples,  Peter,  James,  and  John. 
Mark  5  :  37,  40. 

27.  Thence — From  the  house  of 
Jairus.  "Blindness  is  extremely 
common  in  the  East  from  many 
causes;  e.  g.,  the  quantities  of  dust 
and  sand  pulverized  by  the  sun's 
intense  heat ;  the  perpetual  glare  of 
light ;  the  contrast  of  the  heat  with 
the  cold  sea-air  on  the  coast,  where 
blindness  is  specially  prevalent ;  the 
dews  at  night  while  they  sleep  on 
the  roofs  ;  small-pox,  old  age,  etc. ; 
and  perhaps,  more  than  all,  the  Mu- 
hammedan  fatalism,  which  leads  to 
a  neglect  of  the  proper  remedies  in 
time.  .  .  .  Ludd,  the  ancient  Lyd- 
da,  and  Ramleh,  enjoy  a  fearful  no- 
toriety for  the  number  of  blind  per- 
sons they  contain.  The  common 
saying  is  that  in  Ludd  every  man  is 
either  blind  or  has  but  one  eye.  Jaf- 
fa is  said  to  contain  five  hundred 
blind  out  of  a  population  of  five 
thousand  at  most.  Two — They  were 
partners  in  sorrow.  Son  of  David 
— These  words  were  equivalent  to 
Messiah.     See  the  latter  part  of  the 


120 


MATTHEW. 


28  And  when  he  was  come 
into  the  house,. the  blind  men 
came  to  him  :  and  Jesus  saith 
unto  them,  Believe  ye  that  I 
am  able  to  do  this  ?  They  said 
unto  him,  Yea,  Lord. 

29  Then  touched  he  their 
eyes,  saying,  According  to 
your  faith  be  it  unto  you. 

30  And     their    eyes     were 


note  on  1 :  1.  See,  also,  22  :  42-45. 
The  application  of  them  to  Jesus  by 
these  men  is  not  proof,  however, 
that  they  had  arrived  at  the  concep- 
tion of  his  Messiahship.  It  proves 
at  least  this,  that  they  knew  Jesus 
as  a  descendant  of  David. 

28,  29.  Into  the  house — Perhaps 
the  house  in  which  he  lived  when  he 
was  in  Capernaum.  Though  not 
healed  on  the  way,  they  persist  in  fol- 
lowing him  till  he  hears  their  prayer. 
Yea,  Lord — Faith's  answer  is  prompt 
and  brief.  Touched — As  in  the  case 
of  the  leper,  an  outward  sign  of  the 
inward  act  of  the  will.  It  was  not 
at  all  necessary  as  a  means  of  cure. 
According  to  your  faith — Each  be- 
lieved that  Jesus  was  able  to  cure 
his  blindness,  to  cure  it  wholly ;  not 
both  eyes  partially,  not  one  eye  on- 
ly ;  and  therefore  each  was  cured. 
Had  Jesus  seen  that  either  of  the 
men  believed  that  he  was  able  or 
willing  to  open  only  one  eye,  the 
spiritual  disqualification  would  have 
been  so  great  that  he  would  doubt- 
less not  have  opened  even  one. 

30,  31.  Straitly  charged — Stern- 
ly charged.  It  implies  threat- 
ened displeasure.  They  had  ad- 
dressed him  as  the  Messiah,  and 
would  be  likely  after  their  cure  to 
proclaim  him  as  such  through  all 
the  region.  Jesus  knew  what  evil 
results  might  arise  from  their  doing 
so  :  1.  Awakening  such  enthusiasm 
among  the  people  as  to  draw  too 
largely  upon  his  time  in  working 
miracles ;  2.  Stirring  up  the  malice 


opened ;  and  Jesus  straitly 
charged  them,  saying,  See 
that  no  man  know  it. 

31  But  they,  when  they  were 
departed,  spread  abroad  his 
fame  in  all  that  country. 

32  ^  As  they  went  out,  be- 
hold, they  brought  to  him  a 
dumb  man  possessed  with  a 
devil. 


of  the  Pharisees  so  as  to  hasten  his 
death  before  the  time.  Spread 
abroad  his  fame — The  disregard  of 
their  benefactor's  request  is  to  be 
disapproved,  not,  as  it  is  said  to 
have  been  done  by  Romish  exposi- 
tors, applauded.  This  miracle  is  a 
beautiful  illustration  of  the  truth 
that  Christ  is  the  light  of  the  world. 
Reader!  are  you  yet  spiritually 
blind?  Cry  for  light.  Give,  the 
quick  response  of  faith,  Tea,  Lord! 
No  restriction  is  now  put  upon  the 
cured.     Go,  preach! 

32.  As  they  went  out — The  men 
that  had  been  cured  of  blindness.  A 
dumb  manpossessed — The  dumbness 
was  in  consequence  of  the  posses- 
sion, for  (vs.  33)  when  the  devil 
departed  he  was  able  to  speak.  On 
the  general  subject  of  demoniacal 
possession  see  note  on  4  :  24.  Dumb 
— Devils  are  not  straitened  in  their 
efforts.  They  make  some  persons 
clamorous  (8  :  28,  29)  and  others 
dumb.  Nor  was  Christ  straitened. 
He  cast  out  both  noisy  devils  and 
still  devils.  A  Universalist  com- 
mentator says  that  this  man  was 
"probably  an  insane  man,  who  fan- 
cied he  could  not  speak,  or  he  would 
not ;  "  which  illustrates  the  rational- 
istic character  of  Universalism.  The 
fact  is,  that  the  Jews  themselves 
made  a  distinction  between  merely 
diseased  persons  and  persons  who 
were  both  diseased  and  possessed. 
Mark  (7:  32-35)  reports  the  cure 
of  a  deaf  mute  who  was  not  pos- 
sessed. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


121 


33  And  when  the  devil  was 
cast  out,  the  dumb  spake : 
and  the  multitudes  marvelled, 
saying,  It  was  never  so  seen 
in  Israel. 

34  But  the  Pharisees  said, 
He  casteth  out  devils  through 
the  prince  of  the  devils. 

35  And  Jesus  went  about 
all  the  cities  and  villages, 
teaching  in  their  synagogues, 
and  preaching  the  gospel  of 
the     kingdom,     and     healing 


33.  Never  so  seen  in  Israel — Isra- 
el was  the  most  remarkable  nation, 
and  this,  in  the  judgment  of  the  peo- 
ple, was  the  most  remarkable  thing 
yet  done  in  Israel.  The  feelings 
which  they  express  may,  however, 
be  the  culmination  of  the  feelings 
which  have  been  awakened  by  all 
the  miracles  of  the  day.  They  will 
yet  see  greater  things.  The  regen- 
eration of  men  is  a  fuller  manifesta- 
tion of  Christ  than  opening  blind 
eyes  or  casting  out  a  dumb  devil. 

34.  Criticism  (vs.  11)  becomes 
hostility,  though  it  is  not  necessary 
to  suppose  the  Pharisees  of  vs.  11  to 
be  the  same  as  are  mentioned  here. 
It  is  probable,  however,  that  they 
are  the  same.  The  rationalists  of 
our  times  deny  the  fact :  the  Phari- 
sees admitted  the  fact,  but  attributed 
the  act  to  the  prince  of  devils  work- 
ing through  the  active  co-operation 
of  Jesus  himself.  This  absurd 
charge  will  be  often  repeated.  It 
will  be  considered  at  greater  length 
in  the  notes  on  12 :  22-28. 

35.  All  the  cities  and  villages — 
By  a  comparison  with  Mark  6  :  1-6, 
it  seems  probable  that  the  cities  and 
villages  referred  to  were  in  that  part 
of  Lower  Galilee  in  which  Nazareth 
was  situated.  Preaching  and  heal- 
ing— This  twofold  work  has  been 
done  with  great  success  by  some 
modern  missionaries.  Christianity 
aims  to  bless  both  body  and  soul. 

11 


every  sickness  and  every  dis- 
ease among  the  people. 

36  %  But  when  he  saw  the 
multitudes,  he  was  moved 
with  compassion  on  them,  be- 
cause they  fainted,  and  were 
scattered  abroad,  as  sheep  hav- 
ing no  shepherd. 

37  Then  saith  he  unto  his 
disciples,  The  harvest  truly  is 
plenteous,  but  the  laborers  are 
few: 

38  Pray   ye    therefore    the 


36.  When  he  saw — Not  in  one 
place  only,  but  wherever.  Fainted 
— Harassed.  Fainted  is  not  strong 
enough  for  the  true  reading  of  the 
original.  The  allusion  is  not  chiefly 
if  at  all  to  their  physical  state.  They 
had  no  good  guides  in  things  spir- 
itual. The  scribes  were  very  poor 
shepherds.  The  condition  of  the 
people  had  long  been  deplorable.  In 
the  picture  which  Matthew  here 
gives  of  our  Lord,  is  a  wonderful 
blending  of  the  human  and  divine. 
Respecting  Christ  as  a  shepherd,  see 
notes  on  John  10. 

37,  38.  Harvest — Of  Jews,  pri- 
marily, but  in  the  large  sense  in 
which  Jesus  used  it,  of  the  Gentiles 
in  all  times.  Plenteous — Great. 
Laborers  few— He  was  the  only  la- 
borer, it  has  been  said,  which  is  true 
in  the  strict  sense ;  yet  it  is  not  to 
be  supposed  that  the  apostles,  whom 
he  is  about  to  send  forth  into  active 
service,  had  hitherto  done  nothing. 
Laborers  is  a  comprehensive  term, 
not  to  be  restricted  to  ministers. 
'  'Idleness  in  the  Lord's  work  is  a  sin." 
Pray,  etc. — Taken  in  connection 
with  the  fact  that  he  will  immedi- 
ately exercise  his  authority  in  send- 
ing forth  the  twelve,  and  very  soon 
seventy  more,  the  direction  to  pray 
for  more  laborers  should  foreclose 
all  objections  drawn  from  the  sup- 
posed incompatibility  of  the  human 
will  and  the  divine  will.     We  learn 


122 


MATTHEW. 


Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  he 
will  send  forth  laborers  into 
his  harvest. 


A 


CHAPTER  X. 

ND   when    he    had   called 
unto  him  his  twelve  disci- 


from  this  direction  that  we  are  not 
to  confine  ourselves  to  the  Lord's 
Prayer.  The  life  of  Christians, 
whether  ministers  or  otherwise, 
ought  not  to  be  a  life  of  ease. 

CHAPTER  X. 

JESUS   COMMISSIONS   AND   SENDS 
THE   TWELVE. 

*83  U.C.     Winter,  JL.T).  29. 

1.  Where  the  important  event 
here  recorded  took  place  it  is  impos- 
sible to  tell,  but  it  is  most  probable 
that  it  occurred  at  some  point  in  the 
circuit  referred  to  in  vs.  35  of  the  last 
chapter.  The  public  labors  of  Je- 
sus have  now  been  prosecuted  about 
two  years.  About  one  year  and 
three  months  remain  before  his 
death.  It  will  be  observed  that  most 
of  the  twelve  disciples  were  kept 
under  the  Saviour's  instruction  near- 
ly twenty-four  months  before  they 


pies,  he  gave  them  power 
against  unclean  spirits,  to  cast 
them  out,  and  to  heal  all  man- 
ner of  sickness  and  all  man- 
ner of  disease. 

2  Now  the  names  of  the 
twelve  apostles  are  these  :  The 

were  considered  as  qualified  to  be 
sent  forth  as  apostles.  "  Twelve 
(3x4)  appears  in  twelve  tribes,  twelve 
stones,  and  twelve  gates  (Rev.  21 : 
19-21) ;  twelve  thousand  furlongs 
of  the  heavenly  city  (Rev.  21 :  16)  ; 
one  hundred  and  forty-four  thou- 
sand sealed  (Rev.  7  :  4)."  Nothing 
mysterious,  however,  should  be  con- 
sidered as  expressed  in  this  number 
of  the  apostles.  Some  definite  num- 
ber must  be  chosen,  and  this  would 
be  naturally  suggested  by  the  num- 
ber of  the  Jewish  tribes.  Power 
against — Power  over.  Unclean  spir- 
its— Wicked  demons,  of  whom  Sa- 
tan is  the  prince.  Unclean  because 
wicked.  Acts  19  :  12. 

2.  Apostles — Persons  sent  out. 
All  the  Gospels  except  John's,  and 
the  Acts,  have  catalogues  of  the 
apostles.  In  the  following  table  the 
names  are  arranged  in  the  order  in 
which  they  are  given.  The  book 
of  Acts,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind, 
was  written  by  Luke. 


Matt.  10 :  2-4. 


|  Mark  3 :  16-19.  |      Luke  6 :  14-16. 


|     Act3  1 :  13. 


1. 

2. 
3. 
4. 

Simon  Peter, 
Andrew,  his  brother, 
James,  son  of  Zebedee, 
John,  his  brother, 

Simon  Peter, 
James, 
John, 
Andrew, 

Simon  Peter, 
Andrew, 
James, 
John, 

Peter, 
James, 
John, 
Andrew, 

5. 

6. 

7. 
8. 

Philip, 

Bartholomew, 
Thomas, 
Matthew, 

Philip, 

Bartholomew, 
Matthew, 
Thomas, 

Philip, 

Bartholomew, 
Matthew, 
Thomas, 

Philip, 

Thomas, 

Bartholomew, 

Matthew, 

9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 

James,  son  of  Alpheus, 
Lebbeus,  Thaddeus, 
Simon  the  Cauaanite, 
Judas  Iscariot. 

James, 

Thaddeus, 

Simon, 

Judas  Iscariot. 

James, 

Simon  Zelotes, 
Judas,  brother  of  James, 
Judas  Iscariot. 

James, 

Simon  Zelotes, 

Judas,  brother 

of  James. 

It  will  be  observed  that  Peter  holds  each,  under  these  three  names,  Ju- 
the  first  place  in  all  the  catalogues,  :  das  being  invariably  put  last.  In 
Philip  the  fifth,  James  the  ninth ;  j  this  sense,  the  apostles'  names  are 
and  that  the  other  nine  are  arranged  !  given  in  classes.  In  the  fourth  cat- 
by  all  the  writers  in  groups  of  three  '  alogue,  the  name  of  Judas  Iscariot 


CHAPTER  X. 


123 


first,  Simon,  who  is  called 
Peter,  and  Andrew  his  broth- 
er ;  James  the  son  of  Zebedee, 
and  John  his  brother  ; 

3  Philip,  and  Bartholomew  ; 

is  of  course  wanting.  Simon,  who 
is  called  Peter — Cephas  is  the  name 
by  which  Jesus  is  reported  in  John 
1 :  42  as  addressing  this  apostle.  It 
is  a  Chaldee  word,  and  as  Jesus  and 
the  apostles  spoke  Chaldee,  not 
Greek,  it  is  the  name  by  which  Je- 
sus must  have  always  addressed 
him.  It  comes  from  the  old  He- 
brew word  Ceph,  which  means  rock. 
The  first — He  is  named  first  in  all 
the  catalogues,  and  was  prominent 
above  all  the  others  in  energy  and 
zeal.  He  often  spoke  and  acted  as 
the  representative  of  the  others,  but, 
contrary  to  the  teachings  of  the  Ko- 
manists,  he  was  never  accorded  any 
superiority  of  rank,  and  he  never 
claimed  any.  See  more  in  respect 
to  this  in  the  note  on  16  :  18,  19. 
Andrew — We  have  no  means  of  de- 
termining whether  he  was  younger 
or  older  than  his  brother  Peter. 
Bethsaida  was  their  original  home 
(John  1 :  44),  but  from  Mark  1 :  29 
it  must  be  inferred  that  they  had  re- 
moved to  Capernaum.  Concerning 
the  labors  and  death  of  Andrew  noth- 
ing is  certainly  known,  though  tra- 
dition affirms  that  he  suffered  death 
on  a  cross  in  the  shape  of  the  Greek 
letter  X,  which  is  therefore  called 
St.  Andrew's  cross.  James — Jacob 
is  the  real  name  in  the  original. 
James  is  the  English  form,  the  time  of 
its  introduction  into  our  language  be- 
ing uncertain.  His  father's  name  was 
Zebedee,  and  his  mother's  Salome. 
Except  Judas,  he  is  the  only  one  of 
the  twelve  of  whose  death  we  have 
definite  knowledge.  He  was  put 
to  death  by  Herod.  Acts  12:  2. 
Like  Peter  and  Andrew,  he  had  been 
bred  a  fisherman.  Very  little  is  re- 
ported of  his  labors.  John — James' 
brother.  This  is  the  man  who  is  to 
write  the  richest  of  all  the  narratives 


Thomas,    and     Matthew    the 
publican ;    James   the   son   of 
Alpheus,  and  Lebbens,  whose 
surname  was  Thaddeus ; 
4  Simon  the  Canaanite,  and 


of  his  Master's  life,  the  most  spiritual 
of  all  the  epistles,  and  the  only  pro- 
phetical work  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. 

3.  Philip  was  of  Bethsaida. 
A  few  interesting  things  are  rela- 
ted concerning  him  which  will  be 
examined  in  their  order,  but  not 
much  is  known  of  his  apostolic 
life.  Bartholomew — That  is,  son 
of  Talmai.  There  is  some  reason 
to  suppose  that  he  is  the  same  as 
Nathanael.  He  is  reported  as  hav- 
ing preached  in  India,  by  which 
may  be  meant  Arabia  Felix. 
Thomas  means  twin.  See  John 
11 :  16  :  Thomas  which  is  called 
Didymus,  that  is,  twin.  John  is  the 
only  evangelist  who  speaks  of  any 
of  his  traits  of  character.  John  1 1 : 
16 ;  20  :  24-29.  The  tradition  that 
Thomas  founded  the  church  in 
Malabar  has  little  to  support  it. 
Matthew — Concerning  the  class  to 
which  he  belonged, — the  publicans, 
— see  note  on  5  :  46.  In  Luke  5 : 
27,  he  is  called  Levi.  It  is  worthy 
of  especial  notice  that  Matthew 
had  humility  enough  to  designate 
himself  the  publican,  and  the  other 
evangelists  magnanimity  enough  to 
omit  the  designation.  This  is  an- 
other instance  of  the  freedom 
which  was  granted  to  the  evange- 
lists by  the  Holy  Spirit.  James 
the  son  of  Alpheus — Much  investi- 
gation and  reasoning  have  been  ex- 
pended upon  the  question  whether 
this  James  and  James  the  brother 
of  the  Lord  are  the  same.  Some 
take  the  affirmative  and  others  the 
negative.  There  are  insuperable 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  a  decisive 
answer.  Lebbens — In  Mark  this 
apostle  is  called  Thaddeus,  and  he 
is  believed  to  be  the  same  as  is 
called   by  Luke    in  his  Gospel  and 


124 


MATTHEW. 


Judas  Iscariot,  who  also  be- 
trayed him. 


the  Acts  Judas,  brother  of  James. 
By  this  theory,  he  had  three  names. 
He  was  the  author,  as  some  think, 
of  the  Epistle  of  Jude,  but  others 
hold  that  that  epistle  was  written 
by  Jude  the  Lord's  brother. 

4.  Simon  the  Canaanite — Neither, 
as  Barnes,  a  native  of  Cana,  nor  a 
descendant  of  Canaan,  which  this 
method  of  writing  the  word  leads 
many  to  think.  The  word  should 
be  spelled  Cananite.  A  still  bet- 
ter spelling  would  be  Kananite. 
The  word  means  zealot,  from  which 
we  are  probably  to  infer  that  Simon 
had  been  exceedingly  zealous  for 
the  Mosaic  law.  It  is  an  error  to 
suppose  that  he  was  so  called  in 
consequence  of  belonging  to  a  po- 
litical sect  called  Zealots,  for  that 
party  did  not  arise  till  several  years 
later.  Judas  Iscariot  —  Iscariot 
need  not  be  considered  as  a  sur- 
name. Several  of  the  theories  re- 
specting its  origin  are  fanciful. 
The  most  common  opinion  has 
been,  though  it  has  little  to  support 
it,  that  Judas  was  a  native  of 
Kerioth,  a  town  in  the  southern 
part  of  Judea.  "  The  position  of 
his  name,  uniformly  the  last  in  the 
lists  of  the  apostles  in  the  Synoptic 
Gospels"  [Matthew,  Mark,  and 
Luke],  "is  due,  it  may  be  imagined, 
to  the  infamy  which  afterwards 
rested  on  his  name ;  but,  prior  to 
that  guilt,  it  would  seem  that  he 
took  his  place  in  the  group  of  four 
which  always  stand  lajt  in  order, 
as  if  possessing  neither  the  love, 
nor  the  faith,  nor  the  devotion 
which  marked  the  sons  of  Zebedee 
and  Jonah."  Prof.  E.  H.  Plumtre, 
in  Smith's  Dictionary,  says : — 
"  There  are  more  signs  in  the  Gos- 
pels that  Judas  had  a  strong  and 
sturdy  intellect  than  that  some  of 
the  other  disciples  had,  .  .  .  but  he 
had  no  largeness  of  mind  nor  lofti- 
ness of  aim  which  fitted  him  for 
great  exploits ;  ...  he  was  mean, 


5  These  twelve  Jesus  sent 
forth,  and  commanded  them, 


sordid,  miserly,  but  still  not  insen- 
sible to  the  attractions  of  the  oppo- 
site character ;  .  .  .  he  had  enough 
of  moral  sentiment  to  know  the 
right  and  put  on  the  semblance  of 
it.  ...  The  sins  of  Judas  were 
those  of  deliberate  intent ;  the  sins 
of  Peter  were  those  of  sudden 
lapse.  .  .  .  There  is  no  other  kind 
of  objection  to  the  fact  that  the 
Most  High  in  his  providence  al- 
lowed Judas  to  be  one  of  the  first 
preachers  of  the  gospel,  than  to  the 
fact  that  he  has  in  his  providence 
allowed  other  unfit  men  to  be 
eminent  preachers  of  it,  or  that  he 
has  allowed  unworthy  men  to  sit 
on  the  bench  of  justice,  or  to  reign 
on  the  throne  which,  even  although 
they  were  '  ordained  of  God,'  they 
have  tarnished.  The  mystery  here 
is  the  old  mystery  of  moral  evil." 
Who  also  betrayed  him — How 
calmly  stated!  How  free  from 
personal  feeling ! 

The  Composition  of  the  Apos- 
tolic Body. 

As  the  selection  of  men  to  make 
the  first  general  promulgation  of 
Christianity  and  to  found  Christian 
churches,  was  the  most  important 
act  of  our  Lord's  life,  save  that  of 
actually  surrendering  himself  to  a 
sacrificial  death,  we  pause  for  the 
purpose  of  briefly  considering  the 
composition  of  the  apostolic  body. 
Its  bearings  upon  questions  pertain- 
ing to  the  ministry  of  modern 
times,  and  to  the  spirit  which  should 
govern  the  churches  in  the  choice 
of  pastors,  make  the  subject  one  of 
much  practical  importance.  As 
Judas  soon  dropped  wholly  out  of 
the  apostolic  ranks,  we  shall  not 
include  him  in  what  we  purpose  to 
say.  Matthias,  however,  who  was 
chosen  to  fill  his  place,  and  Paul, 
who,  though  there  was  "a  divine 
irregularity  about  his  call."  was  as 


CHAPTER  X. 


125 


saying,  Go  not  into  the  way 
of  the  Gentiles,  and  into  any 

truly  an  apostle  as  any  other,  will 
both  be  included. 

The  two  grand  characteristics  of 
the  apostolic  body  were  Unity  and 
Diversity. 

1.  Unity — The  apostles  were  all 
men ;  not  one  of  them  an  angel,  not 
one  of  them  a  woman.  They  were 
all  Jews ;  all  believers  in  the  unity 
and  holiness  of  God;  all  believers 
in  Jesus  Christ ;  were  of  the  same 
official  rank ;  were  one  in  doctrine 
and  practice  and  general  aim. 
They  were  one,  not  organically,  but 
through  the  possession  of  a  com- 
mon life,— that  derived  from  Christ. 

2.  Diversity — They  were  not  all 
Palestinian  Jews.  Only  one  had 
been  born  into  the  rights  of  Eoman 
citizenship.  Some  of  them  were 
married;  at  least  one  lived  and 
died  unmarried.  Some  had  fol- 
lowed one  kind  of  worldly  calling, 
and  some  another.  Paul  was  sum- 
moned from  the  highest  social 
position ;  Matthew  from  the  lowest. 
While  probably  all  were  endowed 
with  an  ardent  temperament,  the 
temperaments  of  those  best  known 
differed,  and  only  one,  Paul,  had 
the  temperament  to  which  belong 
the  highest  qualities.  Some  Were 
men  of  ordinary  intellectual  ability ; 
others  of  the  highest.  One  was 
constitutionally  sceptical ;  another 
practical ;  another  intuitive ;  an- 
other logical.  James  was  conserva- 
tive; Paul  was  progressive;  John 
held  the  balance  pretty  evenly  be- 
tween the  two.  One,  in  addition  to 
some  youthful  Greek  culture,  was 
learned  and  trained  to  think  even  if 
judged  by  the  highest  Rabbinic 
standard.  The  labors,  the  suc- 
cesses, the  trials,  of  some  are  nar- 
rated, while  those  of  others  are 
kept  secret  with  God.  Some  are 
known  as  writers  ;  some  as  preach- 
ers ;  others  as  both  preachers  and 
writers.  Some  spent  life  chiefly  in 
large     cities ;      others      elsewbere. 

11* 


city  of  the  Samaritans   enter 

ye  not : 


Some  were  more  useful  in  convert- 
ing men  and  organizing  them  into 
churches ;  some  in  instructing 
them ;  others  equally  useful  in  do- 
ing both.  Some  were  mere  nar- 
rators of  the  facts  of  Christianity ; 
others  bold  defenders  of  the  truth 
against  the  errorists  of  their  times. 
Some  have  a  world-wide  reputation, 
while  of  others  nothing  is  known 
but  their  names.  Such  were  the 
diversities  of  the  apostles,  yet  they 
awoke  among  themselves  no  jeal- 
ousies, no  contempt,  no  coldness. 
The  men  were  one  in  sentiment,  in 
doctrine,  in  purpose,  and  in  joy 
over  each  other's  success. 

These  diversities  are  repeated,  by 
divine  intention,  in  ministers  of 
modern  times.  Not  all  the  diversi- 
ties of  modern  ministers,  however, 
are  the  result  of  divine  intention, 
as,  for  example,  those  which  are 
born  of  perversion  of  Scripture  and 
of  self-neglect. 

The  composition  of  the  apostolic 
body  illustrates  the  wisdom  of 
Christ,  and  teaches  many  impressive 
lessons  both  to  ministers  and  to 
churches. 

The  Lord's  Address  to  the 
Twelve. 

5.  Go  not  into  the  way  of  the  Gen- 
tiles— Direct  not  your  way  to  Gen- 
tiles. Samaria  was  the  region 
located  in  the  central  part  of  Pales- 
tine, having  Judea  on  the  south 
and  Galilee  on  the  north.  The  city  of 
Samaria  stood  on  a  hill  "rising  ab- 
ruptly from  the  bosom  of  a  beau- 
tiful valley  to  a  height  of  some  four 
hundred  feet,  and  surrounded  by  a 
circle  of  hills  still  higher,  except 
partially  on  the  west."  Its  central 
position  "  made  it  admirably  adapted 
for  a  place  of  observation,  and  a 
fortress  to  awe  the  neighboring 
country.  And  the  singular  beauty 
of  the    spot,    upon   which,    to   this 


126 


MATTHEW. 


6  But  go  rather  to  the 
lost  sheep  of  the  house  of 
Israel. 

7  And  as  ye  go,  preach,  say- 
ing, The  kingdom  of  heaven 
is  at  hand. 

8  Heal  the  sick,  cleanse  the 


hour,  travellers  dwell  with  admira- 
tion, may  have  struck  Omri,  as  it 
afterward  struck  the  tasteful  Idu- 
mean."  The  city  was  built  by  Om- 
ri, King  of  Israel,  who  named  it  Sa- 
maria after  the  name  of  the  owner, 
Sliemer,  of  whom  Omri  bought  the 
hill  for  two  talents  of  silver.  1 
Kings  16  :  23,  24.  On  a  tablet  which 
Mr.  Layard  rescued  from  the  ruins 
of  Nineveh  was  found  the  name 
Beth  Omri,  which  means  House  of 
Omri,  a  method  of  designating  this 
very  city. 

Samaritans — Whether  the  Sa- 
maritans in  the  time  of  Christ  were 
wholly  of  heathen  origin,  or  whether 
they  were  a  mixed  race,  partly  Jew- 
ish and  partly  heathen,  it  would  ap- 
pear to  be  certain  that  at  first  they 
were  all  heathen;  for  in  the  year 
721  B.C.  the  inhabitants  of  Samaria 
and  the  adjacent  cities  were  carried 
away  captive  into  Assyria,  and  their 
places  were  filled  with  "men  from 
Babylon,  and  from  Cuthah,  and  from 
Ava,  and  from  Hamath,  and  from 
Sepharvaim."  Concerning  the  char- 
acter of  the  Samaritans  and  the  re- 
lation existing  between  them  and  the 
Jews,  see  note  on  John  4  :  9,  20. 
Neither  of  the  prohibitions  contained 
in  this  verse  arose  from  the  national 
prejudices  against  Samaritans  and 
Gentiles  so  common  among  the 
Jews ;  for  Jesus  ever  showed  per- 
fect freedom  from  national  preju- 
dices ;  but  it  arose,  doubtless,  from 
knowledge  that  his  kingdom  would 
spread  more  rapidly  both  among 
Jews  and  others  by  beginning  with 
Jews.  The  prohibition  was  soon  re- 
moved, and  the*  largest  liberty  was 
granted  in  pi'eaching  the  gospel  of 
the  kingdom.    Ye  shall  be  witnesses 


lepers,  raise  the  dead,  cast  out 
devils  :  freely  ye  have  received, 
freely  give. 

9  Provide  neither  gold,  nor 
silver,  nor  brass  in  your 
purses  ; 

10  Nor  scrip  for  your  jour- 

unto  me,  both  in  Jerusalem,  and  in 
all  Judea,  and  in  Samaria,  unto 
the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth. 
Acts  1 :  8. 

6.  Lost  sheep  (9 :  36) — Sinners 
of  the  nation  of  Israel.  "All  sin- 
ners," says  a  volume  of  Notes  in- 
tended for  the  people,  "  are  like 
lost  sheep,  as  being  cared  for  and 
sought  after  by  appointment  of 
Christ.  But  such  of  them  as  have 
been  baptized  and  have  come  into 
this  outward  covenant  relation  are 
more  especially  like  the  lost  sheep 
of  the  house  of  Israel."  The  notion 
that  my  child  is  any  the  less  sought 
as  a  lost  sheep  by  the  good  Shep- 
herd, because  he  was  not  baptized 
in  infancy,  is  without  scriptural  sanc- 
tion. Infant  baptism  brings  no  one 
into  nearer  relation  to  God. 

7.  Preach,  The  kingdom  .  .  .  is  at 
hand — How  much  ampler  and  richer 
the  message  which  they  were  after- 
ward authorized  to  deliver !  This 
message  was  preparatory  to  that. 
The  time  had  not  quite  come  for 
preaching  distinctly  that  Jesus  is 
the  Messiah.  Kingdom  of  heaven — 
See  note  on  3  :  2. 

8.  They  were  to  prove  the  truth 
of  their  message  by  miracles,  but 
they  were  to  sell  neither  miraculous 
power  nor  truth.  The  mercenary 
spirit  of  Simon  Magus  and  the  no- 
ble obedience  of  Peter  to  this  item 
of  his  Lord's  instructions  are  re- 
corded in  Acts  8  :  18,  20. 

9.  10.  He  now  speaks  of  their 
equipment.  Parses — Girdles.  See 
note  on  3  :  4.  "They  were  used  as 
pockets,  as  among  the  Arabs  still, 
and  as  purses,  one  end  of  the  girdle 
being  folded  back  for  the  purpose." 
Gold,   silver,   brass — The   different 


CHAPTER    X. 


129 


ney,  neither  two  coats,  neither 
shoes,  nor  }'et  staves  :  for  the 


kinds  of  current  money.     By  brass 
was  meant,  not  as  with  us  a  com- 
pound of  copper  and  zinc,  with  which 
the  ancients  were  not  probably  ac- 
quainted, but  copper  and  tin.    Scrip 
— A  bag  carried  by  shepherds  and 
travellers,  and  slung  over  the  back. 
The  English  word  implies  the  scrap- 
ing together  of  things.      Two  coats, 
etc. — The  spirit  of  these  directions 
has  been  better  expressed,  we  think, 
by  Dr.  Thomson,  than  by  any  other 
writer.      "The    entire    'outfit'  of 
these  first  missionaries  shows  that 
they  were  plain  fishermen,  farmers, 
or  shepherds  ;  and  to  such  men  there 
was  no  extraordinary  self-denial  in 
the  matter  or  the  mode  of  their  mis- 
sion.     We  may  expound  the  'in- 
structions '  given  to  these  primitive 
evangelists  somewhat  after  the  fol- 
lowing manner  :  Provide  neither  sil- 
ver,  nor   gold,   nor  brass   in  your 
purses.      You   are    going  to   your 
brethren  in  the  neighboring  villages, 
and  the  best  way  to  get  to  their 
hearts  and  their   confidence   is  to 
throw  yourselves  upon  their  hospi- 
tality.   Nor  was  there  any  departure 
from  the  simple  manners  of  the  coun- 
try in  this.     At  this  day  the  farmer 
sets  out  on  excursions  quite  as  ex- 
tensive, without  a  para  in  his  purse  ; 
and  the  modern  Moslem  prophet  of 
Tarshiha  thus  sends  forth  his  apos- 
tles over  this  identical  region.   Nei- 
ther do  they  encumber  themselves 
with  two  coats.      They  are  accus- 
tomed to  sleep  in  the  garments  they 
have  on  during  the  day,  and  in  this 
climate  such  plain  people  experience 
no  inconvenience  from  it.      They 
wear   a   coarse   shoe,  answering  to 
the  sandal  of  the  ancients,  but  never 
take  two  pair  of  them :  and  although 
the  staff  is  an  invariable  compan- 
ion of  all  wayfarers,  they  are  con- 
tent with  one.     Of  course  such  '  in- 
structions '  can  have  only  a  general 
application  to  those  who  go  forth, 
not  to  neighbors  of  the  same  faith 


workman    is     worthy    of   his 
meat. 


and  nation,  but  to  distant  climes  and 
to  heathen  tribes,  and  under  condi- 
tions wholly  diverse  from  those  of 
the  fishermen  of  Galilee ;  but  there 
are  general  principles  involved  or 
implied  which  should  always  be  kept 
in  mind  by  those  who  seek  to  carry 
the  gospel  to  the  masses  of  mankind 
either  at  home  or  abroad." 

Neither    shoes,  nor   yet   staves — 
Mark  (6  :  8)  says,  Take  nothing  save 
a  staff  only,  and  be  shod  with  san- 
dals.   Staff  is  the  translation  of  the 
true  reading  in  Matthew,  and  the 
singular  was  actually  employed  in 
English  Bibles  before  the  commonly 
received  version  was  made.    It  was 
a  mistake  in  King  James'  translators 
to  use  the  plural.    But  the  substitu- 
tion of  staff  for  staves  makes  the 
contradiction  between  Matthew  and 
Mark  appear  all  the  greater.     The 
former  says,  Provide  not  a  staff,  and 
the  latter  says,  Take  nothing  save  a 
staff.    The  contradiction  is  only  ap- 
parent.    The  spirit  of  the  entire  di- 
rection relative  to  their  equipment 
is  this  :  Make  no  extra  preparation. 
If  you  have  a  staff  let  that  one  staff 
suffice  (Mark).     If  you  have  none, 
be  not  particular  to  provide  even 
one  (Matt.)  ;  or,  perhaps  even  Mat- 
thew means,  Provide  no  staff  in  ad- 
dition to  the  one  you  have.     Such 
candor  as  we  show  in  interpreting 
uninspired  books  will  save  us  from 
regarding  such  little  variations  as 
evidence  against  the  veracity  of  the 
evangelists.  As  to  the  shoes  or  san- 
dals, they  were  not  to  be  so  wanting 
in  faith  as   to  provide  themselves 
with  an  extra  pair.  For  proof,  how- 
ever, that  these  directions  were  not 
intended  to  be  of  permanent  obliga- 
tion, see  Luke  22  :  35,  36.     Worthy 
of  his  meat — Of  his  living,  whatever 
is  necessary  to  support  life.     They 
were  to  go  with  entire  conviction 
that  the  general  principle  which  pre- 
vails under  the  divine  government; 
that  he  who  works  shall  not  wani 


130 


MATTHEW. 


11  And  into  whatsoever  city 
or  town  ye  shall  enter,  inquire 
who  in  it  is  worthy  ;  and  there 
abide  till  ye  go  thence. 

12  And  when  ye  come  into 
a  house,  salute  it. 

13  And  if  the  house  be  wor- 
thy, let  3rour  peace  come  upon 
it :  but  if  it  be  not  worthy,  let 
your  peace  return  to  3rou. 


bread,  will  hold  good  in  their  own 
case. 

11.  Who  in  it  is  worthy — Here  is 
reference  not  to  personal  merit,  but 
to  readiness  to  receive  them  as 
teachers  of  religion.  Devout, 
spiritual  Jews,  who  were  waiting 
for  the  kingdom  of  God,  were  to  be 
sought  as  promising  more  success 
in  their  mission,  and  as  likely  to 
afford  them  a  better  temporary  home 
as  a  centre  of  operations.  Spiritual 
ministers  seek  spiritual  people. 
Families  where  Christ  would  not 
be  welcome  are  not  likely  to  be 
fond  of  entertaining  Christ's  ser- 
vants. There  abide — Luke  says, 
Go  not  from  house  to  house.  "The 
reason  is  very  obvious  to  one  ac- 
quainted with  oriental  customs. 
When  a  stranger  arrives  in  a  vil- 
lage or  an  encampment,  the  neigh- 
bors, one  after  another,  must  invite 
him  to  eat  with  them.  ...  It  also 
consumes  much  time,  causes  un- 
usual distraction  of  mind,  leads  to 
levity,  and  every  way  counteracts 
the  success  of  a  spiritual  mission." 
—  Thomson. 

12,  13.  Salute  it — See  note  on  5  : 
47,  second  paragraph.  Religion 
does  not  forbid  the  common  courte- 
sies of  life.  Christians  should  have 
such  kindness  of  spirit  as  shall 
make  them  observant  of  all  the 
reasonable  forms  of  society,  and 
ministers  pre-eminently  so.  The 
salutation  is  not  to  depend  on  the 
worthiness  of  the  house.  That 
largeness  of  heart  which  charac- 
terizes intelligent  piety  is  superior 


14  And  whosoever  shall  not 
receive  you,  nor  hear  your 
words,  when  ye  depart  out  of 
that  house  or  city,  shake  off 
the  dust  of  your  feet. 

15  Verily  I  say  unto  you, 
It  shall  be  more  tolerable  for 
the  land  of  Sodom  and  Go- 
morrah in  the  clay  of  judg- 
ment, than  for  that  city. 


to  the  little  petty  conventionalities 
of  life.  If  the  family  show  no 
sympathy  with  their  heavenly  mis- 
sion, and  so  would  find  their 
presence  positively  unpleasant, 
they  are  to  withdraw  their  saluta- 
tion, that  is,  themselves. 

14.  Shake  off  the  dust — See  Acts 
13  :  51.  It  was  an  expressive  sym- 
bolic act,  equivalent  to  saying,  You 
are  so  utterly  polluted  that  we  can- 
not allow  a  particle  of  your  dust 
to  cleave  to  us.  We  can  have  no 
association  with  you.  By  the  same 
kind  of  act,  the  stricter  Jews  ex- 
pressed their  non-fellowship  with 
Gentiles  whenever  they  passed 
from  a  heathen  territory  into  Pales- 
tine. For  an  instance  of  shaking 
dust  from  the  "raiment,"  see  Acts 
18:  6. 

15.  The  punishment  which  re- 
jecters of  the  gospel  shall  receive 
is  here  very  forcibly  expressed  by 
reference  to  the  fate  of  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah.  It  was  formerly  held 
that  the  Dead  Sea  was  formed  at 
the  time  of  the  overthrow  of  these 
cities.  But  it  is  now  seen  that  there 
is  nothing  in  the  Bible  that  justifies 
the  opinion,  and  much  in  the  results 
of  an  examination  of  the  entire 
valley  of  the  Dead  Sea  and  of  the 
River  Jordan  to  make  its  continued 
acceptance  impossible.  Dr.  Robin- 
son holds  that  "  a  lake  must  have 
existed  where  the  Dead  Sea  now 
lies,  into  which  the  Jordan  poured 
its  waters  long  before  the  catastro- 
phe of  Sodom."  It  has  recently 
been  argued  that  the  Old  Testament 


CHAPTER   X. 


131 


16  f  Behold,  I  send  3rou 
forth  as  sheep  in  the  mitlst  of 
wolves :   be  3'e  therefore  wise 


''seems"  to  require  us  to  locate 
Sodom  on  the  north  of  the  Dead 
Sea,  though  the  same  writer  admits 
that  "the  long-continued  tradition 
and  the  names  of  existing  spots 
ceem  to  pronounce  with  almost 
equal  positiveness  that  it  was  at  its 
southern  end."  That  the  southern 
end,  below  the  peninsula,  is  the 
true  locality,  seems,  in  the  present 
state  of  our  knowledge,  much  the 
more  probable.  "  In  what  precise 
manner  '  the  Lord  overthrew  the 
cities  '  is  not  clearly  indicated  in 
the  records  either  of  Scripture  or 
of  natural  remains.  The  great 
difference  of  level  between  the 
bottoms  of  the  northern  and  the 
southern  ends  of  the  lake,  the 
former  being  a  depth  of  thirteen 
hundred,  the  latter  only  of  thirteen, 
feet  below  the  surface,  confirms 
the  theory  that  the  southern  end  is 
of  recent  formation,  and,  if  so,  was 
submerged  at  the  time  of  the  fall  of 
the  cities." — Stanley.  The  cities 
were  not  overwhelmed  with  water 
but  with  fire.  Their  destruction  is 
often  referred  to  in  the  Scriptures 
as  a  very  signal  illustration  of  the 
displeasure  of  God ;  but  Jesus  Christ 
affirms  that  the  punishment  which 
awaits  those  who  will  not  receive 
the  message  of  eternal  life,  will  be 
a  yet  more  signal  manifestation  of 
God's  displeasure. 

In  the  day  of  judgment — For 
evidence  that  Jesus  refers  to  pun- 
ishment after  the  death  of  the  body, 
see  25:  31-46;  John  5:  28,  29. 
It  is  appointed  unto  men  once  to 
die,  but  after  this  the  judgment. 
Heb.  9  :  27.  See  also  1  Cor.  5  :  10. 
As  remarked  by  Dr.  Bartlett,  after 
quoting  these  and  many  other  pas- 
sages :  "If  these  do  not  show  that 
at  the  last  day,  the  day  of  final 
judgment,  the  day  of  Christ's  com- 
ing in  glory,  all  the  wicked  as  well 


as  serpents,   and  harmjess  as 
doves. 

17  But  beware  of  men  :  for 


as  the  good  will  stand  before  him 
in  conscious  activity  to  receive 
public  sentence,  nothing  can  show 
it."  The  application  of  the  pas- 
sage before  us  to  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  is  in  violation  of  all  just 
principles  of  interpretation.  Jesus 
preached  a  day  of  judgment :  the 
world  still  needs  to  hear  it  preached. 
16.  The  Lord  proceeds  to  apprise 
them  of  the  persecutions  which  they 
will  suffer  through  their  entire  term 
of  service,  and  to  exhort  them  to 
bear  all  with  fortitude.  /  send — 
When  Christ  sends,  fear  may  well 
be  dismissed.  In  the  midst — Not 
into,  for  they  are  already  among 
wolves.  Christ  never  apologized 
for  the  spirit  of  persecution.  With 
him,  a  persecutor  is  a  wolf.  The 
bodies  which  have  persecuted  for 
religious  opinion's  sake  are  churches 
only  in  name.  The  church  of 
Christ  is  to  be  sought  elsewhere. 
Their  exposure  to  persecution  is 
a  reason  why  they  should  be  wise 
as  serpents.  The  serpent  does  not 
seem  to  us  to  be  distinguished  for 
sagacity,  but  that  the  ancients  and 
many  in  all  past  ages  have  taken 
this  view  of  the  reptile  is  certain. 
The  apostles  must  show  wisdom  in 
not  needlessly  exposing  the  infant 
cause  to  persecution,  and  in  doing 
the  best  thing  possible  for  it  when 
persecution  shall  arise.  Harmless 
as  doves — Simple  as  doves,  that  is, 
free  "  from  all  taint  of  evil."  The 
writer  has  heard  the  objection  that 
when  these  birds  fight,  they  fight 
with  terrible  fury.  Very  likely, 
for  what  is  done  rarely  may  be  done 
all  the  more  vigorously.  Yet  the 
dove  is  constitutionally  gentle, 
meek,  pure,  or  it  could  not  have 
been  regarded  by  the  ancients  as 
the  symbol  of  these  qualities  in 
others.  In  Syria  it  was  "so  ven- 
erated as  to  be  regarded  as  holy,  and 


132 


MATTHEW. 


they  will  deliver  you  up  to 
the  councils,  and  they  will 
scourge  }tou  in  their  S}Tna- 
gogues ; 

18  And  ye  shall  be  brought 
before  governors  and  kings 
for  my  sake,  for  a  testimony 
against  them  and  the  Gen- 
tiles. 

19  But   when    they    deliver 


forbidden  as  an  article  of  food." 
The  two  qualities  here  enjoined 
upon  the  apostles,  and  by  inference 
to  be  regarded  as  required  of  all 
ministers  of  the  word,  are  not  nec- 
essarily contrary,  yet  are  very  dif- 
ficult of  realization  in  the  same 
person.  They  have  been  seen  in 
perfect  combination  only  in  Christ. 
They  were  largely  developed  in 
Eenelon.  The  wisdom  of  the  ser- 
pent without  the  simplicity  of  the 
dove  makes  one  crafty,  a-s  the  "old" 
serpent  was ;  the  simplicity  of  the 
dove  Avithout  the  wisdom  of  the 
serpent  makes  one  weak,  as  Eve  at 
last  was.  God  gave  both  qualities 
to  Eve,  but  she  lost  her  simplicity. 
But  I  fear,  lest  by  any  means,  as 
the  serpent  beguiled  Eve  through 
his  subtlety,  so  your  minds  should 
be  corrupted  from  the  simplicity 
that  is  in  Christ.  2  Cor.  11 :  3. 
The  unity  of  character  resulting 
from  the  combination  of  both  quali- 
ties may  be  considered  as  partly 
constitutional,  but  it  is  chiefly  the 
result  of  a  divine  operation  upon 
the  heart.  It  is  not  so  much  intel- 
lectual as  moral. 

17,  18.  Beware  of  men — A 
strange,  yet  most  needful  warning. 
Children  of  yourEather,  yet  beware 
of  them.  Councils — "The  lesser 
courts,  of  which  there  Avere  two  at 
Jerusalem,  and  one  in  each  town  of 
Palestine."  Synagogues — See  on 
4  :  23.  The  officers  of  the  syna- 
gogue had  judicial  power,  not  so 
great  as  that  of  the  higher  courts, 
but  sufficient  to  allow  them  to  order 


you  up,  take  no  thought  how 
or  what  ye  shall  speak :  for  it 
shall  be  given  you  in  that 
same  hour  what  ye  shall 
speak. 

20  For  it  is  not  ye  that 
speak,  but  the  Spirit  of  your 
Father     which     speaketh     in 


3tou. 

21   And    the 


brother    shall 


scourging,— a  strange  act  for  such  a 
place,  and  a  punishment,  which,  for 
religious  opinions,  was  not  required 
by  the  law.  It  is  less  strange  that 
Jews,  eighteen  centuries  ago,  were 
intolerant,  than  that  some  nominal 
Christians  of  the  nineteenth  century 
are.  Governors — Roman  officers 
serving  in  Palestine,  called  Pro- 
consuls, Pro-praetors,  Procurators ; 
or,  rulers  in  general,  wherever 
their  administration  might  be.  Tes- 
timony against — Testimony  to,  that 
is,  to  them  on  behalf  of  the  truth. 
The  meaning  is  not,  against  their 
unbelief,  though  that  would  be  an 
indirect  result  of  their  testifying. 
As  they  had  already  been  told  not 
to  go  to  the  Gentiles,  Jesus  here 
refers  to  the  future  enlargement  of 
their  mission,  not  to  this  first  brief 
service.  Persecution  gives  power 
to  an  infant  cause,  but  no  thanks 
for  it  are  due  to  the  persecutors. 
Persecuted  ministers  and  missiona- 
ries of  more  recent  times  are  in 
honorable  company.  Blessed  are 
ye  when  men  shall  persecute  you. 
19,  20.  No  thought  how  or  what 
— This  is  a  prohibition,  not  of  all 
previous  reflection,  but  of  all  anxie- 
ty. Anxiety  would  prove  that  they 
are  distrusting  God.  Help  will  be 
given  them  from  above.  This  is  a 
promise  that  when  they  are  in  such 
circumstances  as  are  here  named, 
they  shall  receive  special  inspira- 
tion to  speak  aright.  It  is  no  proof 
that  even  the  apostles  were  to  at- 
tempt to  preach  with  no  preparation. 
How  much  less  does  it  prove  that 


CHAPTER   X. 


133 


deliver  up  the  brother  to 
death,  and  the  father  the 
child  :  and  the  children  shall 
rise  up  against  their  parents, 
and  cause  them  to  be  put  to 
death. 

22  And  ye  shall  be  hated  of 
all  men  for  my  name's  sake : 
but  he  that  endureth  to  the 
end  shall  be  saved. 


others  may  do  so  !  In  1  Tim.  4 :  13, 
14,  Paul  says,  Till  I  come,  give  at- 
tendance to  reading,  to  exhortation, 
to  doctrine.  Neglect  not  the  gift 
which  is  in  thee.  .  .  .  Meditate  up- 
on these  things;  give  thyself  wholly 
to  them;  that  thy  profiting  may  ap- 
peal' to  all. 

21,  22.  Drop  the  articles  in  vs.  21, 
as  the  Greek  permits,  and  the  de- 
scription will  be  more  forcible : 
Brother  will  deliver  up  brother,  and 
father  child,  and  children  will  rise 
up  against  parents.  It  is  a  twofold 
truth  that  love  to  Christ  and  hatred 
of  Christ  are  stronger  than  the 
strongest  earthly  ties.  The  history 
of  the  Christian  religion  yields  many 
illustrations  of  it.  Hated  of  all  men 
— Men  either  love  Christ  or  hate 
him.  Those  that  hate  him  hate  those 
that  love  him.  All  who  hate  Christ 
will  hate  them.  Not  all  who  do  not 
love  Christ  are  conscious  of  hating 
him,  and  not  all  who  hate  him  hate 
him  in  the  same  degree.  But  all  who 
do  not  love  him  are,  in  a  very  crimi- 
nal sense,  against  him,  and  may, 
therefoi-e,  come  at  any  time  into  a 
state  of  conscious  hatred.  Endureth 
to  the  end — Holds  out  in  his  disci- 
pleship  till  his  trials  are  over.  It  is 
a  comprehensive  expression,  and 
may,  therefore,  refer  to  trials  that 
might  come  upon  them  in  the  siege  of 
Jerusalem,  or  to  any  other  trials  even 
to  the  close  of  life.  Observe  that 
he  who  shall  endure  to  the  end  will 
thereby  prove  that  Christ  had  given 
him  the  true  (the  eternal)  life,  and 
that  he  that  shall  not  endure  to  the 
12 


23  But  when  they  persecute 
you  in  this  city,  flee  ye  into 
another  :  for  verily  I  say  unto 
you,  Ye  shall  not  have  gone 
over  the  cities  of  Israel,  till 
the  Son  of  man  be  come. 

24  The  disciple  is  not  above 
his  master,  nor  the  servant 
above  his  lord. 

25  It  is  enough  for  the  dis- 


end  will  thereby  prove  that  he  had 
not  been  made  alive. 

23.  Flee — Not  under  the  motive 
of  self-interest.  That  is  not  the  kind 
of  virtue  which  Jesus  teaches.  The 
direction  has  reference  not  to  mere 
personal  safety,  but  to  the  more 
rapid  success  of  his  cause  ;  and  he 
solemnly  assures  them  that  they 
shall  have  room  enough  to  work  in, 
and  will  scarcely  have  accomplished 
all  when  the  Son  of  man  shall  have 
come.  Till  the  Son  of  man  be  come — 
Some  (Barnes)  say,  in  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem ;  others  (Dr.  Whe- 
don),  at  Christ's  resurrection;  oth- 
ers, in  the  scenes  of  the  Pentecost; 
others,  at  the  end  of  the  world.  We 
incline  to  the  first,  but  feel  by  no 
means  certain  that  that  expresses 
the  Lord's  meaning.  Son  of  man — 
See  note  on  12 :  6-8,  second  para- 
graph. 

Courting  martyrdom,  as  was  done 
by  some  in  the  early  part  of  the 
fourth  century,  is  here  virtually 
condemned.  "It  behooves  us,"  said 
Origen,  born  185  A.D.,  "neither  at 
all  times  to  avoid  danger,  nor  at  all 
times  to  meet  it.  But  it  needs  the 
wisdom  of  the  Christian  philosopher 
to  examine  and  decide  what  times 
require  that  one  should  withdraw 
himself,  and  what  that  he  should 
stand  fast,  ready  for  the  conflict, 
without  withdrawing  himself,  and 
still  more  without  fleeing." 

24,  25.  The  first  of  these  verses 
is  a  proverb,  used  by  Jewish  Rabbis. 
Beelzebub — A  god  worshipped  by  the 
Philistines.     A  king  of  Israel,  who 


134 


MATTHEW. 


ciple  that  he  be  as  his  master, 
and  the  servant  as  his  lord.  If 
they  have  called  the  master  of 
the  house  Beelzebub,  how  much 
more  shall  they  call  them  of  his 
household? 

26  Fear  them  not  therefore  : 
for  there  is  nothing  covered, 
that  shall  not  be  revealed  ;  and 
hid,  that  shall  not  be  known. 


met  with  an  accident,  sent  to  this 
god  to  inquire  whether  he  should 
recover.  2  Kings  1 :  2.  The  deity 
is  supposed  to  have  been  so  named 
as  protector  of  the  people  against 
flies.  Baal  means  lord,  the  whole 
name,  lord  of  flies,  ox  fly-god,.  But 
the  true  reading  is  Beelzebul.  Some 
have  suggested  that  b  Avas  changed 
into  I  to  make  the  sound  more  agree- 
able to  the  ear.  It  is  jiossible  that 
the  change  was  accidental.  But 
it  seems  probable  that  the  Jews 
changed  the  spelling  so  as  to  ex- 
press more  fully  their  dislike  of 
idolatry,  Beelzebul  meaning,  as  is 
probable,  lord  of  the  dunghill.  Mas- 
ter of  the  house — Head  of  the  family, 
— a  beautiful  appellation  as  applied 
by  Christ  to  himself.  All  who  ac- 
cept him  as  their  Saviour  are  mem- 
bers of  his  family.  How  bitter  and 
contemptuous  the  spirit  that  could 
have  surnamed  such  a  being  as  Je- 
sus Christ,  Lord  of  the  Dunghill! 
But  Theodore  Parker  shows  quite 
as  contemptuous  a  spirit  toward 
Christ  in  the  manner  in  which  he 
speaks  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  "The 
Lord's  Supper,"  he  says,  "I  don't 
like,  as  it  is  now  administered.  It 
is  a  heathenish  rite,  and  means  very 
little,  I  think."  He  recommends 
coming  together  in  a  parlor  and 
eating,  if  one  likes,  curds  and  cream 
and  baked  apples. 

26,  27.  He  encourages  them  still 
further.  Nothing  covered,  etc.,  may 
refer,  as  the  words  elsewhere  do,  to 
the  exposure  of  hypocrisy,  but  the 
two  verses  may  alike  refer  to  the 


27  What  I  tell  you  in  dark- 
ness, that  speak  }Te  in  light : 
and  what  ye  hear  in  the  ear, 
that  preach  ye  upon  the  house- 
tops. 

28  And  fear  not  them  which 
kill  the  body,  but  are  not  able 
to  kill  the  soul :  but  rather  fear 
him  which  is  able  to  destroy 
both  soul  and  bod}'  in  hell. 


fact  that  the  truths  which  the  Lord 
has  spoken  to  them  privately  must 
be  preached  by  them  openly.  They 
must  not  be  deterred  by  fear  of  per- 
secution. What  he  tells  them  they 
must  preach  as  publicly  as  if  they 
should- stand  upon  the  tops  of  the 
houses.  "  Our  Lord  spent  most  of 
his  life  in  villages,  and  accordingly 
the  reference  here  is  to  a  custom 
observed  only  in  such  places,  never 
in  cities.  At  the  present  day  local 
governors  in  country  districts  cause 
their  commands  thus  to  be  published. 
Their  proclamations  are  generally 
made  in  the  evening,  q^Vr  the  peo- 
ple have  returned  from  their  labors  in 
the  field.  The  public  crier  ascends 
the  highest  roof  at  hand,  and  lifts 
up  his  voice  in  a  long-drawn  call 
upon  all  faithful  subjects  to  give  ear 
and  obe}r." — Thomson.  Our  Lord's 
teachings  are  light,  though  given  in 
darkness.  Since  darkness  some- 
times speaks  boldly,  with  what 
courage  should  light  speak  always  ! 
Timidity  in  the  preacher  of  truth, 
especially  in  an  atmosphere  infected 
with  rationalism,  is  a  sin  and  a 
shame. 

28.  This  verse  is  one  of  vast  im- 
portance, and  one  in  the  attempt  to 
expound  which  Universalism  shows 
special  weakness.  And  fear  not — 
Rendering  this,  as  it  may  be,  And 
be  not  afraid  of,  brings  out  more 
clearly  the  contrast  between  fearing 
persecutors  and  fearing  God.  Be 
not  afraid  of  your  persecutors  .  .  . 
but  fear  God.  A  singular  but  un- 
supported interpretation  of  the  last 


CHAPTER  X. 


135 


29  Are  not  two  sparrows 
sold  for  a  farthing?  and  one 
of  them  shall  not  fall  on 
the  ground  without  your  Fa- 
ther. 


member  of  this  verse  is  that  which 
teaches  that  the  being  whom  we  are 
exhorted  to  fear  is  the  devil.  But,  1. 
We  are  nowhere  else  exhorted  to  fear 
the  devil ;  2.  The  devil  has  no  power 
th  punish  in  hell,  but  equally  with  all 
who  serve  him  is  in  God's  power ; 
3.  James  (4 :  12)  says,  There  is  one 
lawgiver,  who  is  able  to  save,  and  to 
destroy.  This  teaches  that  God  is 
the  only  dispenser  of  life  and  death. 
To  destroy — Not,  to  annihilate.  See 
remarks  upon  the  word  destruction 
in  the  notes  on  7  :  13,  14.  Observe 
that  it  is  both  body  and  soul  that 
God  is  able  to  destroy.  Represent- 
ing God  as  raising  up  the  body  after 
it  has  been  dead  for  untold  ages  on- 
ly for  the  purpose  of  immediately  an- 
nihilating it,  is  making  God  too  much 
like  boys  that  build  only  for  the 
sake  of  overturning.  The  soul  is  de- 
stroyed, not  by  losing  its  existence, 
but  by  being  punished,  and  punish- 
ment in  non-existence  is  impossible. 
Therefore  annihilation  is  a  lie.  It 
may  be  added  that  Apollyon,  in  Rev. 
9:  11  ("the  angel  of  the  bottomless 
pit"),  is  derived  from  the  Greek 
word  meaning  to  destroy.  It  would 
be  singular  if  Destruction  himself 
has  nobody  to  reign  over  in  the  bot- 
tomless pit !  The  soul — This  is  ex- 
pressly distinguished  by  our  Lord 
from  the  body.  The  body  may  be 
killed,  while  the  soul  may  remain 
untouched.  Therefore  materialism 
is  a  lie.  In  hell — See  the  second  and 
third  paragraphs  in  the  notes  on  5  : 
22. 

29-31.  He  still  further  strength- 
ens their  faith  by  reminding  them 
of  God's  universal  and  therefore 
particular  providence,  selecting  the 
sparrow  as  an  illustration.  Spar- 
rows are  still  very  abundant  in 
Palestine,  one  hundred  species  hav- 


30.  But  the  very  hairs  of 
your  head  are  all  numbered. 

31  Fear  ye  not  therefore,  ye 
are  of  more  value  than  many 
sparrows. 


ing  already  been  observed.  The 
English  Tree  Sparrow  is  often  seen 
in  and  about  Jerusalem.  "  At  the 
present  day  the  markets  of  Jerusa- 
lem and  Jaffa  are  attended  by  many 
'  fowlers '  who  offer  for  sale  long 
strings  of  little  birds  of  various 
species,  chiefly  sparrows,  wagtails, 
and  larks.  ...  It  may  well  excite 
surprise  how  such  vast  numbers 
can  be  taken,  and  how  they  can  be 
vended  at  a  price  too  small  to  have 
purchased  the  powder  required  for 
shooting  them.  But  the  gun  is 
never  used  in  their  pursuit.  The 
ancient  methods  of  fowling  to  which 
we  find  so  many  allusions  in  the 
Scriptures  are  still  pursued,  and, 
though  simple,  are  none  the  less 
effective."  A  farthing — About  one 
cent  and  a  half.  Not  one  of  these 
birds,  so  insignificant,  falls  on  the 
ground,  that  is,  to  perish,  without 
your  Father.  To  explain  the  last 
two  words  as  your  Father's  notice, 
is  cold;  and  besides,  the  argument 
in  that  case  would  minister  little 
comfort  to  the  disciples.  If  they 
are  here  apprised  that  they  may 
perish  by  the  hand  of  persecution, 
they  certainly  can  find  very  little 
support  in  the  mere  fact  that  they 
shall  not  perish  without  being  seen 
by  their  Father.  God's  oversight 
is  not  withdrawn  when  the  spar- 
row perishes.  It  perishes  in  ac- 
cordance with  God's  will.  God  is 
as  truly  the  superintendent  of  the 
sparrow  in  its  dying  as  he  was  in 
its  living.  But  they  are  worth  so 
much  more  than  many  sparrows 
that  even  the  hairs  of  their  head 
are  all  numbered ;  that  is,  God's 
government  extends  over  them  in 
all  the  minutest  particulars  of  life. 
They  should  go  forth  to  their  work, 
therefore,    without    fear.       5 :  31. 


136 


MATTHEW. 


32  Whosoever  therefore  shall 
confess  me  before  men,  him 
will  I  confess  also  before  my 
Father  which  is  in  heaven. 

33  But  whosoever  shall  deny 
me  before  men,  him  will  I  also 
clen}T  before  ray  Father  which 
is  in  heaven. 

34  Think  not  that  I  am  come 
to  send  peace  on  earth  :  I  came 
not  to  send  peace,  but  a  sword. 

35  For  I  am  come  to  set  a 
man    at   variance  against   his 


The  spirit  of  these  beautiful  direc- 
tions should  be  appropriated  by 
pastors  of  the  present  times,  in  the 
more  formal  relations  which  they 
sustain  to  churches  and  incorpo- 
rated societies. 

32,  33.  Another  reason  why  they 
should  be  courageous  in  their  work. 
Whosoever — Not  the  apostles  only. 
"  '  He  will  not  confess  the  confess- 
ing Judas,  nor  deny  the  denying 
Peter,'  because  the  confession  of 
the  former  was  hypocritical,  the 
denial  of  the  latter  a  transient 
weakness,  followed  immediately  by 
the  deepest  repentance."  Shall 
confess — Not  a  mere  oral  act,  though 
that  is  included,  but  a  life  of  con- 
tinual faith  and  service. 

34-3G.  Jesus  guards  them  against 
that  timidity  and  against  that  com- 
promise of  the  truth  which  might 
spring  from  seeing  division  arise 
from  their  labors.  They  must  go 
forth  to  their  work  with  the  distinct 
understanding  that  their  Master 
came  into  the  world  for  the  very 
purpose  of  breaking  up  the 
wretched  union  of  men  in  sin — 
even  of  parents  and  children. 
Compare  these  verses  with  vs.  21. 
That  puts  forward  the  active  hostil- 
ity of  unbelievers  against  believers  ; 
this  the  necessary  opposition  of  be- 
lievers to  unbelievers.  The  hostil- 
ity of  unbelievers  will  be  the  result 
of  the  truth  preached.  The  neces- 
sary opposition   of    believers  was 


father,  and  the  daughter  against 
her  mother,  and  the  daughter-in- 
law  against  her  mother-in-law. 

36  And  a  man's  foes  shall  be 
they  of  his  own  household. 

37  He  that  loveth  father  or 
mother  more  than  me  is  not 
Worthy  of  me  :  and  he  that  lov- 
eth son  Qr  daughter  more  than 
me  is  not  worthy  of  me. 

38  And  he  that  taketh  nqt 
his  cross,  and  followeth  after 
me,  is  not  worthy  of  me. 

purposed.  /  am  come  to  set  a 
man  against.  Had  the  apostles  not 
set  men  at  variance  with  men,  one 
of  two  things  would  be  certain : 
either  that  all  men  immediately  re- 
ceived Christ,  or,  that  the  message 
which  had  been  preached  was  not 
the  truth.  The  daughter-in-law — 
A  bride.  There  is  a  kind  of  preach- 
ing that  keeps  men  peaceful  in  sin. 
A  church  should  not  be  alarmed  at 
the  mere  fact  that  the  preaching  of 
its  pastor  stirs  up  hatred. 

37.  Loveth. . .  mother  morethan  me 
— What  audacity  of  presumption  if 
Christ  was  not  more  than  human  ! 
How  could  the  holiest  angelic  spirit 
have  dared  to  bring  himself  into 
such  rivalry  of  love  with  one  who, 
as  nature  teaches,  should  be  loved 
more  than  all  other  created  beings  ? 
One  of  such  purity  and  modesty 
never  could  have  made  such  a  de- 
mand unless  conscious  of  uncreated 
excellence. 

38.  His  cross — A  plain  allusion 
to  the  manner  of  his  own  death, 
which,  however,  the  disciples  them- 
selves could  not  then  have  per- 
ceived, though  not  ignorant  of 
crucifixion  as  a  method  of  punish- 
ment, or  of  the  fact  that  many  of 
those  condemned  to  surfer  it  were 
compelled  to  carry  their  own  cross. 
The  only  Christ  that  we  are  to  follow 
is  one  who  first  bore  the  cross,  and 
was  then  borne  by  it.  Following  such 
a  one  is  being  crucified  with  him. 


CHAPTER  X. 


137 


39  He  that  findeth  his  life 
shall  lose  it :  and  he  that  los- 
eth  his  life  for  my  sake  shall 
find  it. 

40  %  He  that  receiveth  you 
receiveth  me  :  and  he  that  re- 
ceiveth me  receiveth  him  that 
sent  me. 

41  He  that  receiveth  a  proph- 


39.  Findeth  .  .  .  shall  lose: 
loseth  .  .  .  shall  find — It  is  clear 
that  this  is  one  of  the  cases  in  which 
the  same  word  is  used,  in  the  same 
sentence,  in  different  senses.  Let 
the  dead  bury  their  dead  is  another 
instance.  So  also  in  John  3 :  8. 
The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth : 
...  so  is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the 
Spirit.  Here  the  same  Greek  word 
is  used  where  our  common  version 
very  properly  uses  the  two  words 
wind  and  spirit.  So  in  the  verse 
before  us,  life,  and  it  which  stands 
for  life,  cannot  both  refer  to  life  in 
the  same  sense ;  for  it  is  not  true 
that  he  who  loses  natural  life  for 
Christ  will  find  natural  life.  Nat- 
ural life  ends  with  the  death  of  the 
body.  The  meaning  may  be  ex- 
pressed thus :  He  that  finds  his 
physical  life  shall  lose  spiritual  life  ; 
and  he  that  loses  his  physical  life 
shall  find  spiritual  life.  It  may  be 
more  fully  expressed  thus :  He 
that  attempts  to  preserve  his  natural 
life,  avoiding  all  possible  exposure 
in  my  cause  for  the  sake  of  the 
worldly  good  that  he  imagines  to 
be  embraced  in  the  continuance  of 
his  physical  life,  shall  lose  true 
spiritual  life  in  the  world  to  come. 
On  the  other  hand,  he  who,  will- 
ingly exposing  his  natural  life  in 
my  cause,  loses  it,  will  find  true 
spiritual  life  in  the  next  world.  Dr. 
Bartlett  well  expresses  it  thus : 
He  who  will  lose  his  life  in  a  lower 
sense  for  Christ  shall  save  it  in  the 
highest  sense  conceivable. 

40.  Receiveth  you — Not  into  his 
house  merely,  not,  necessarily,  into 

12* 


et  in  the  name  of  a  prophet 
shall  receive  a  prophet's  re- 
ward :  and  he  that  receiveth  a 
righteous  man  in  the  name  of 
a  righteous  man  shall  receive  a 
righteous  man's  reward. 

42  And  whosoever  shall  give 
to  drink  unto  one  of  these  little 
ones  a  cup  of  cold  water  only 


it  at  all.  That  might  be  done  and 
nothing  more.  He  must  receive 
them  as  messengers  of  Christ,  not 
merely  as  neighbors  or  as  men.  If 
he  receives  them  as  Christ's  mes- 
sengers, he  will  receive  the  message, 
all  the  message.  If  he  receives 
the  message,  he  will  yield  himself 
to  its  influence.  In  receiving 
Christ  it  is  impossible  not  to  re- 
ceive the  Father  also.  He  who 
thinks  he  trusts  in  God,  while  not 
receiving  Christ  and  not  receiving 
Christ's  messengers,  is  lying  under 
a  fearful  and  fatal  mistake. 

41.  This  verse  is  an  extension  of 
the  general  principle  expressed  in 
the  preceding  verse.  To  receive 
a  prophet  (a  religious  teacher)  in 
the  name  of  a  prophet  is  to  receive 
him  because  he  is  a  prophet;  that 
is,  from  regard  to  his  work.  That 
must  be  the  motive.  A  prophet's 
reward — Will  prove  himself  to  be 
so  united  in  spirit  with  the  prophet 
that  he  shall  obtain  bliss  similar  to 
that  of  the  prophet  himself.  The 
same  explanation  must  be  made  of 
the  latter  part  of  the  verse,  only  u 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  by 
righteous  man  is  meant  any  Chris- 
tian man  in  more  private  life. 

42.  These — Probably  pointing  to 
them.  Little  ones — Disciples.  Who- 
ever does  the  smallest  favor,  repre- 
sented by  a  cup  of  cold  water,  to  a 
disciple  of  Christ,  and  does  it  be- 
cause he  is  Christ's  disciple,  imply- 
ing of  course  that  the  doer  is  him- 
self a  disciple,  shall  not  lose  his 
reward.  His  retvard — That  which, 
in  accordance  with  God's  gracious 


138 


MATTHEW. 


in  the  name  of  a  disciple,  verily 
I  say  unto  you,  he  shall  in  no 
wise  lose  his  reward. 

CHAPTER  XI. 

AND  it  came  to  pass,  when 
Jesus  had  made  an  end  of 
commanding  his  twelve  dis- 
ciples, he  departed  thence  to 


and  sovereign  purpose,  will  be  ap- 
propriately his.  It  would  be  a 
mistake  to  regard  the  act  as  meri- 
torious ground  of  justification. 

CHAPTER  XI. 

A  MESSAGE  FROM  JOHN  ;  THE  LORD'S 
OPINION    OF   JOHN. 

781  TJ.  C.    Midsummer,  A.I>.  «8. 

1.  And  it  came  to  pass  when — It 
has  been  already  stated  that  Mat- 
thew does  not  report  all  the  events 
of  our  Lord's  life  in  the  order  of 
time.  It  should  be  noticed  accord- 
ingly that  the  date  placed  at  the 
head  of  this  chapter  is  earlier  than 
the  date  of  the  chapter  preceding. 
He  departed  thence — It  is  impossible 
to  determine  the  point  of  departure. 
Their  cities — Cities  in  the  south- 
eastern part  of  Galilee.  ' '  The  Lord 
gives  himself  no  rest,  but  enters  im- 
mediately upon  new  labors." 

2.  John's  imprisonment  is  judged 
by  Andrews  to  have  occurred  in 
March,  the  year  of  Rome  781,  A.D. 
28,  and  this  message  to  have  been 
sent  to  Jesus  in  the  following  mid- 
summer. Accordingto  Josephus,the 
place  of  John's  confinement  was  the 
castle  of  Machaerus,  which  was  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  Dead  Sea,  a  long 
distance  from  the  region  in  which 
Jesus  was  then  laboring,  but  the 
evangelists  .are  silent  respecting  the 
question  of  location.  Had  heard  in 
prison — How?  And  all  the  disci- 
ples of  John  showed  him  of  all  these 


teach  and  to  preach  in  their 
cities. 

2  Now  when  John  had  heard 
in  the  prison  the  works  of 
Christ,  he  sent  two  of  his  dis- 
ciples, 

3  And  said  unto  him,  Art 
thou  he  that  should  come,  or 
do  we  look  for  another? 

4  Jesus  answered  and  said 


things.  Luke  7:  18.  Reports  of 
Christ's  miracles  and  discourses 
reached  the  ears  of  the  Baptist  in 
spite  of  the  lustful  tyrant. 

3.  He  that  should  come — The 
Coming  One, — a  phrase  by  which  Old 
Testament  writers  designated  the 
expected  Messiah.  See  Ps.  40  :  7 ; 
118 :  26.  The  sense  is,  Art  thou 
The  Coming  One,  that  is,  the  Mes- 
siah, of  whom  the  prophets  wrote  ? 
or,  are  we  to  look  for  another  ?  This 
is  no  evidence  of  doubt  that  Jesus 
was  a  being  of  wonderful  excellence, 
that  he  had  wrought  miracles,  or 
even  that  he  was  a  real  messenger 
from  God.  Is  it  evidence  of  doubt 
that  Jesus  was  the  Messiah?  is  a 
question  concerning  which  even  the 
most  distinguished  interpreters  are 
net  agreed.  It  seems  to  the  writer 
of  these  notes  that  John  should  by  no 
means  be  regarded  as  in  a  state  of 
painful  doubt,  but  as  desirous  to  re- 
ceive some  strengthening  word  from 
Christ.  What  he  had  already  heard 
from  the  lips  of  his  own  disciples 
must  have  brought  him  fresh  life  in 
the  prison  of  Machaerus,  and  this 
very  report  of  what  they  had  seen 
must  have  created  a  desire  to  hear 
from  Jesus  himself.  This  explana- 
tion runs  clear  of  two  extremes  : 
the  one,  that  the  message  was  sent 
only  with  reference  to  John's  disci- 
ples ;  the  other,  that  John  was  "  in 
danger  of  being  offended  at  him," 
that  "it  was  prompted  by  doubt  and 
disappointment  about  Christ's  con- 
duct." 

4,  5.  Shew  again — Report.  Again 


CHAPTER  XI. 


139 


unto  them,  Go  and  shew  John 
again  those  things  which  ye  do 
hear  and  see : 

5  The  blind  receive  their 
sight,  and  the  lame  walk,  the 
lepers  are  cleansed,  and  the 
deaf  hear,  the  dead  are  raised 
up,  and  the  poor  have  the  gos- 
pel preached  to  them. 

6  And  blessed  is  he,  whoso- 

conveys  a  wrong  impression.  The 
original  makes  no  allusion  to  a  sec- 
ond time.  According  to  Luke  (7  : 
21),  Jesus,  before  the  very  eyes  of 
John's  disciples,  cured  many  of  their 
infirmities  and  plagues,  of  evil  spir- 
its and  blindness.  The  dead  are 
raised — He  had  raised  the  daughter 
of  Jairus,  and  (Luke  7 :  11-15)  the 
son  of  the  widow  of  Nain.  Jesus 
does  not  say  even  now  that  he  is  the 
Messiah,  but  the  messengers  are  to 
tell  John  what  they  have  seen  and 
heard.  As  John  is  familiar  with  the 
prophecy  of  Isaiah  (61 :  1)  in  which 
these  things  are  mentioned  as  char- 
acteristic of  the  Messiah,  he  will  have 
received  from  Christ  the  strength- 
ening word  which  he  sought. 

6.  Shall  not  be  offended  in — Shall 
not  take  offence  at,  in  consequence 
of  finding  that  I  am  different  from 
the  ideal  Messiah  whom  he  has  been 
expecting.  Why  should  this  be  con- 
sidered, as  it  is  by  so  many,  a  re- 
proof of  John  ?  Is  the  supposition 
consistent  with  the  character  given 
him  in  vv.  7-11  ?  It  may  have  been 
intended  chiefly  for  the  disciples  who 
were  listening, — both  John's  and  his 
own.  He  that  stumbles  at  Christ 
loses  Christ's  blessing.  Stumbling 
at  Christ's  supernatural  origin  and 
atoning  death  is  stumbling  at  Christ 
himself. 

7.  Not  to  save  John's  personal 
reputation  with  the  people,  but  to 
exalt  John's  mission,  our  Lord  pro- 
ceeds to  speak  of  John's  character 
and  relation  to  himself.  A  reed — 
One  kind  of  reed,  not  now  growing 


ever  shall  not  be  offended  in 
me. 

7  ^f  And  as  they  departed, 
Jesus  began  to  say  unto  the 
multitudes  concerning  John, 
What  went  ye  out  into  the  wil- 
derness to  see  ?  A  reed  shaken 
with  the  wind? 

8  But  what  went  ye  out  for 
to  see  ?     A  man  clothed  in  soft 


in  Egypt,  but  found  in  Syria,  is  the 
papyrus,  which,  before  parchment 
came  into  use,  was  used  for  writing 
paper.  "  Dr.  Hooker  saw  it.on  the 
banks  of  Lake  Tiberias,  a  few  miles 
north  of  the  town.  .  .  .  The  papy- 
rus plant  has  an  angular  stem  from 
three  to  six  feet  high,  though  occa- 
sionally it  grows  to  the  height  of 
fourteen  feet ;  it  has  no  leaves ;  the 
flowers  are  in  very  small  spikelets, 
which  grow  on  the  thread-like  flow- 
ering branchlets  which  form  a  bushy 
crown  to  each  stem ;  it  is  found  in 
stagnant  pools  as  well  as  in  running 
streams,  in  which  latter  case,  ac- 
cording to  Bruce,  one  of  its  angles 
is  always  opposed  to  the  current  of 
the  stream."  It  is  not  certain  that 
this  is  the  reed  which  grew  in  the 
region  where  John  had  baptized,  as 
it  is  well  known  that  there  were 
several  species.  Shaken  with  (by) 
the  wind — Either  a  man  of  no  ac- 
count, like  the  reeds  that  grew  on 
the  banks  of  the  Jordan,  or  a  man 
of  vacillating  will. 

8.  The  Lord  ascends  a  step 
higher.  Supposing  them  to  have 
gone  to  see,  not  a  reed,  but  a  man, 
did  they  go  to  see  one  of  luxurious 
style  of  living?  Soft  raiment — 
Garments  of  the  finer,  more  expen- 
sive material.  It  stands  for  what 
would  be  likely  to  characterize  per- 
sons of  wealth  or  elevated  position. 
He  means  to  say  that  the  man  whom 
they  went  to  see  was  not  one  of  the 
sort  that  is  commonly  found  in  kings' 
courts.  Luxury  leads  to  levity; 
simplicity   to    sobriety.      Christian 


140 


MATTHEW. 


raiment?  behold,  they  that 
wear  soft  clothing  are  in  kings' 
houses. 

9  But  what  went  ye  out  for 
to  see ?  A  prophet?  yea,  I  say 
unto  you,  and  more  than  a 
prophet. 

10  For  this  is  lie,  of  whom  it 
is  written,  Behold,  I  send  my 
messenger  before  thy  face, 
which  shall  prepare  thy  way 
before  thee. 


self-denial,  however,  has  had  in 
many  ages  of  the  Christian  era  some 
remarkable  illustrations  in  court- 
Life. 

9,  10.  The  third  illustration  is 
another  step  in  advance.  Did  they 
go  to  see  a  prophet?  More  than  a 
-prophet — More  than  "the  evangeli- 
cal prophet "  Isaiah,  because  acting 
in  the  character  of  a  forerunner  of 
the  Messiah.  Jesus  does  not  say 
that  they  considered  John  as  more 
than  a  prophet,  but  that  he  whom 
they  went  out  to  see  is  more  than  a 
prophet.  In  fact  they  had  failed  to 
understand  John's  true  position. 
Our  Lord  quotes  from  Mai.  3 :  1. 
He  must  have  had  more  than  human 
or  even  angelic  familiarity  of  ac- 
quaintance with  the  Father  to  have 
presumed  to  appropriate  those  words 
to  himself. 

11.  Verily  shows,  as  elsewhere, 
his  conviction  of  the  certainty  of 
what  he  affirms.  Hath  not  risen  a 
greater — Jesus  here  takes  the  fourth 
step  in  his  method  of  bringing  out 
John's  official  relation  to  himself. 
He  is  equal  to  the  greatest  of  man- 
kind, for  he  is  my  forerunner ;  which 
cannot  be  said  of  any  other  man. 
Though  he  is  in  the  old  dispensa- 
tion, he  is  the  last,  and  stands, 
therefore,  next  to  me.  But  to  be  in 
the  old  dispensation  is  not  equal  to 
being  in  the  new.  Why  not?  Be- 
cause the  new  is  that  to  which  by 
divine  ordination  the  old  looks.  The 
new  is  the  completion  of  the  old. 


11  Verily  I  say  unto  you, 
Among  them  that  are  born  of 
women  there  hath  not  risen  a 
greater  than  John  the  Baptist : 
notwithstanding,  he  that  is 
least  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
is  greater  than  he. 

12  And  from  the  days  of 
John  the  Baptist  until  now  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  suffereth 
violence,  and  the  violent  take 
it  by  force. 


He  that  is  in  the  new  is,  in  his  rela- 
tions to  me,  greater  than  John. 
John  came  to  herald  the  coming  of 
the  kingdom  of  which,  when  come, 
my  disciples  are  actual  members. 
It  is,  then,  a  comparison  of  states  in 
this  world,  not  of  character,  or  of  des- 
tiny. When  Herod  had  taken  off 
this  bold  reprover's  head,  John  was 
himself  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
in  its  (to  him)  completed  form,  and 
therefore  became  greater  than  the 
greatest  of  Christ's  disciples  in  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  in  its  incom- 
pleted form  in  the  world. 

We  cannot  hold  with  some  that 
Jesus  intends  to  institute  a  compari- 
son between  John  as  born  of  a  woman 
and  others  who  are  born  of  God. 
John  was  as  truly  born  of  God 
as  Matthew.  The  remark  of  Dr. 
Whedon,  in  his  Commentary,  that 
one  who  is  truly  in  the  kingdom  of 
God  is  "above  making  such  a  mis- 
take as  poor  John  .  .  .  committed," 
is  hardly  justified  by  the  Lord's 
representation  of  his  character. 

12,  13.  These  verses  seem  in- 
tended still  to  exalt  John  by  com- 
paring his  work  with  that  of  the 
prophets.  The  prophets  and  the 
law,  that  is,  the  writers  of  the  law, 
did  little  more  than  to  announce  be- 
forehand in  one  way  or  another 
what  had  recently  been  taking  place. 
From  the  days — Including  the  time 
in  which  John  preached.  Until  now 
— Not  excluding  the  time  to  come, 
even  to  the  end  of  the  new  dispen- 


CHAPTER   XI. 


141 


13  For  all  the  prophets  and 
the  law  prophesied  until  John. 

14  And  if  ye  will  receive  it, 
this  is  Elias,  which  was  for  to 
come. 

15  He  that  hath  ears  to  hear, 
let  him  hear. 

16  %  But  whereunto  shall  I 
liken   this   generation?     It  is 


sation.  All  the  time  in  which  John 
preached  was  characterized  for  the 
intensity  of  interest  with  which  men 
rushed  to  hear  the  word  and  toward 
the  open  door  of  the  kingdom  of 
God.  It  is  not  implied  that  all  who 
rushed  toward  the  door  succeeded 
in  entering  it.  The  view  which 
makes  our  Lord  represent  men  as 
committing  the  "mistake"  of  trying 
"to  hurry,  violently,  the  kingdom 
into  a  premature  existence"  (Dr. 
Whedon),  is  based  upon  the  view, 
untenable,  we  think,  that  John  had 
been  guilty  of  a  similar  "mistake" 
in  sending  the  messengers  to  Jesus. 
It  is  not  the  generally  received  ex- 
planation. 

14,  15.  If  ye  will  receive  it,  im- 
plies that  the  hearers  had  not  yet 
come  to  a  cordial  recognition  of  the 
truth  that  John  was  the  personage 
whose  coming  was  foretold  by  Mala- 
chi  (4 :  5)  under  the  name  of  Elias 
(Elijah)  :  Behold,  /  will  send  you 
Elijah  the  prophet  before  the  com- 
ing of  the  great  and  dreadful  day  of 
the  Lord.  Elijah  "has  well  been 
entitled  '  the  grandest  and  the  most 
romantic  character  that  Israel  ever 
produced.'  Certainly  there  is  no 
personage  in  the  Old  Testament 
whose  career  is  more  vividly  por- 
trayed, or  who  exercises  on  us  a 
more  remarkable  fascination.  His 
rare,  sudden  and  brief  appearances ; 
his  undaunted  courage  and  fiery 
zeal;  the  brilliancy  of  his  tri- 
umphs ;  the  pathos  of  his  despon- 
dency; the  glory  of  his  departure, 
and  the  calm  beauty  of  his  reap- 
pearance on  the  Mount  of  Trans- 


like unto  children  sitting  in  the 
markets,  and  calling  unto  their 
fellows, 

17  And  saying,  We  have 
piped  unto  you,  and  ye  have 
not  danced  ;  we  have  mourned 
unto  you,  and  ye  have  not  la- 
mented. 

18  For  John  came  neither 


figuration, — throw  such  a  halo  of 
brightness  around  him  as  is  equalled 
by  none  of  his  compeers  in  the  sa- 
cred story."  It  was  believed  by 
many  of  the  Jews  that  Elijah  would 
reappear  for  the  relief  of  the  nation, 
and  indeed  "he  is  recorded  as  hav- 
ing often  appeared  to  the  wise  and 
good  Rabbis, — at  prayer  in  the  wil- 
derness, or  on  their  journeys, — gen- 
erally in  the  form  of  an  Arabian  mer- 
chant. At  the  circumcision  of  a 
child,  a  seat  was  always  placed  for 
him,  that,  as  the  zealous  champion 
and  messenger  of  the  '  covenant '  of 
circumcision,  he  might  watch  over 
the  due  performance  of  the  rite. 
During  certain  prayers  the  door  of 
the  house  was  set  open  that  Elijah 
might  enter  and  announce  the  Mes- 
siah. ...  So  firm  was  the  convic- 
tion of  his  speedy  arrival,  that  when 
goods  were  found  and  no  owner  ap- 
peared to  claim  them,  the  common 
saying  was,  '  Put  them  by  till  Elijah 
comes.' "  At  the  feast  of  unleavened 
bread,  as  observed  by  the  modern 
Jews,  "A  cup  of  wine  is  poured  out 
for  him,  and  stands  all  night  upon 
the  table.  Just  before  the  filling  of 
the  cups  of  the  guests  the  fourth 
time,  there  is  an  interval  of  dead  si- 
lence, and  the  door  of  the  room  is 
opened  for  some  minutes  to  admit 
the  prophet."  See  Matt.  16  :  14;  17 : 
3,  4 ;  27  :  47 ;  John  1 :  21.  The  re- 
semblance between  John  and  Elijah" 
is  rery  striking.  Ears  to  hear — One 
of  our  Lord's  solemn  methods  of 
calling  attention. 

16-19.    The  general  meaning  is 
plain ;   that  the  generation  of  that 


142 


MATTHEW. 


eating  nor  drinking,  and  they 
sa}r,  He  hath  a  devil. 

19  The  Son  of  man  came 
eating  and  drinking,  and  they 
say,  Behold  a  man  gluttonous, 
and  a  wine-bibber,  a  friend  of 
publicans    and   sinners.      But 

day  was  indisposed  to  accept  wis- 
dom (vs.  19)  as  preached  by  either 
of  the  great  teachers  whom  God  had 
sent.  It  was  pleased  with  neither 
John  nor  Jesus,  though  in  some  re- 
spects so  unlike.  John  could  not 
be  accused  of  going  to  marriage 
festivals  or  to  dinner-parties :  he 
was  abstemious,  taught  his  disci- 
ples to  fast,  was  plain  in  his  ap- 
parel, was  strict  in  his  method. 
But  they  said  he  was  possessed.  Je- 
sus was  gentle  and  compassionate 
(vv.  28,  29).  He  conformed,  so  far 
as  they  were  innocent,  to  the  usages 
of  social  life.  But  they  said  he  was 
a  glutton  and  a  wine-bibber,  and 
took  persons  of  the  lowest  moral 
character  as  his  associates.  Thus 
far  all  is  plain,  but  the  details  of  the 
similitude  which  Jesus  employs 
have  given  to  many  considerable 
difficulty. 

To  illustrate  the  fault-finding 
spirit  of  that  generation,  Jesus  uses 
the  fact  that  the  children  of  those 
days  played  wedding  and  funeral. 
They  divided  themselves  into  two 
parties.  Some  piped,  played  the 
flute,  and  the  others  were  expected 
to  dance,  but  would  not.  They  did  not 
like  to  play  wedding.  So  the  play- 
ers proposed  to  play  funeral,  and  fell 
to  mourning  ;  singing  dirges.  That 
pleased  the  other  children  no  bet- 
ter. They  would  not  lament — Beat 
the  breast, — the  common  sign  of 
sorrow.  It  was  attempted  to  carry 
on  these  plays  in  the  market — pub- 
*lic  places  where  the  people  were  ac- 
customed to  gather  for  talking,  or 
for  buying  and  selling.  The  play- 
ing or  speaking  children  represent 
John  and  Jesus ;  the  complaining 
children,  that  generation.    There  is 


wisdom  is  justified  of  her  chil- 
dren. 

20  %  Then  began  he  to  up- 
braid the  cities  wherein  most 
of  his  mighty  works  were  done, 
because  they  repented  not : 

21  Woe  unto  thee  Chorazin ! 


an  apparent  contradiction  between 
these  verses  and  vs.  12,  for  that 
says  that  people  are  rushing  toward 
the  kingdom ;  this,  that  people  have 
resisted  the  teachings  both  of  John 
and  Jesus.  That,  however,  refers 
to  the  people,  this  rather  to  the 
scribes  and  Pharisees ;  for  it  was 
these,  chiefly,  who  were  severe  in 
their  style  of  talking  concerning  the 
two  teachers.  It  has  never  been 
easy  for  the  Lord's  disciples  to  sat- 
isfy the  world,  provided  they  live  so 
as  to  satisfy  Christ.  "Radical" 
criticism  is  uncandid.  Had  the  doc- 
trine of  Jesus  flattered  men  more, 
Jesus  himself  would  have  been  per- 
secuted less. 

Wisdom  justified,  etc. — Wisdom 
is  here  personified,  as  it  is  in  Prov- 
erbs. Her  children — The  wise.  The 
wise  justifying  their  mother  is  equiv- 
alent to  this :  The  wise  prove  by 
their  conduct  that  what  comes  from 
heaven  professing  to  be  wisdom  is 
wisdom. 

20.  To  upbraid — To  reprove  with 
mingled  grief  and  anger  at  their 
continued  impenitence.  Mighty 
works — Miracles.  The  cities — The 
people  of  the  cities.  He  speaks  of 
the  rejection  of  his  claims  by  indi- 
viduals. Some  who  would  be  un- 
willing to  be  considered  rationalists 
are  accustomed  to  speak  of  mira- 
cles, however  genuine,  as  of  little 
value  as  an  evidence  of  the  Sav- 
iour's authority  to  teach.  Jesus,  as 
is  here  seen,  regarded  them  in  a 
different  light.  He  upbraided  the 
cities,  because  they  did  not  repent 
under  the  evidence  coming  from  his 
miracles.  The  miracles  are  a  strong 
evidence  even  for  those  who  know 
them  only  by  report. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


143 


woe  unto  thee  Bethsaida !  for 
if  the  might}7  works,  which  were 
done  in  you,  had  been  done  in 
Tyre  and  Sidon,  they  would 
have  repented  long  ago  in  sack- 
cloth and  ashes. 


21-24.  There  is  no  reason  to 
doubt  that  these  towns  were  situated 
on  or  near  the  shore  of  the  Lake  of 
Gennesareth,  but  the  exact  location 
has  been  much  in  dispute.  Chora- 
zin— "And  here"  [two  miles  from 
the  ruins  of  Tell  Hum,  which  are 
on  the  north  side  of  the  lake]  ' '  we 
are  among  the  shapeless  heaps  of 
Chorazin,  which  attest  most  impres- 
sively the  fulfilment  of  that  pro- 
phetic curse  of  the  Son  of  God.  I 
have  scarcely  a  doubt  about  the  cor- 
rectness of  the  identification,  al- 
though Dr.  Robinson  rejects  it,  al- 
most with  contempt.  But  the  name, 
Khorazy,  is  nearly  the  Arabic  for 
Chorazin ;  the  situation — two  miles 
north  of  Tell  Hum — is  just  where 
we  might  expect  to  find  it ;  the  ruins 
are  quite  adequate  to  answer  the 
demands  of  history ;  and  there  is  no 
rival  site." — Thomson.  "Discov- 
eries more  recently  made  have 
strengthened  this  presumption  from 
the  name  and  position  of  Chorazy. 
Mr.  Grove,  speaking  of  the  excava- 
tions by  Messrs.  Wilson  and  Ander- 
son, says  :  '  The  ruins  of  Chorazin 
at  Kerazeh '  (so  he  writes  the  word) 
'  turn  out  to  be  far  more  important 
than  was  previously  suspected ;  they 
cover  a  much  larger  extent  of  ground 
than  Tell  Hum,  and  many  of  the 
private  houses  are  almost  perfect, 
with  the  exception  of  the  roofs ;  the 
openings  for  doors  and  windows  re- 
maining in  some  cases.  All  the 
buildings,  including  a  synagogue  or 
church  [?],  are  of  basalt,  and  it  is 
not  till  one  is  right  in  among  them 
that  one  sees  clearly  what  they  are  ; 
fifty  or  one  hundred  yards  off  they 
look  nothing  more  than  the  rough 
heaps  of  basaltic  stones  so  common 
in  this  country.'"  —  Hackett. 


22  But  I  say  unto  }7ou,  It 
shall  be  more  tolerable  for  Tyre 
and  Sidon  at  the  day  of  judg- 
ment, than  for  you. 

23  And  thou,  Capernaum, 
which  art  exalted  unto  heaven, 


Bethsaida — "Until  the  discovery 
by  Reland  of  the  fact  that  there  were 
two  places  of  the  name,  one  on  the 
west  and  one  on  the  east  side,  the 
elucidation  of  the  various  occur- 
rences of  the  two  was  one  of  the 
hardest  knots  of  sacred  geography." 
The  Bethsaida  in  which  some  of  the 
apostles  were  born  has  been  located 
by  Dr.  Robinson  at  a  spot  on  the 
north-western  side  of  the  lake,  and, 
as  the  word  means  house  of  fish,  it 
is  not  unlikely  that  the  town  lay  on 
the  shore.  There  was  another  Beth- 
saida on  the  eastern  side  of  the  riv- 
er, at  the  north-eastern  extremity 
of  the  lake,  which  was  "rebuilt  and 
adorned  by  Philip  the  Tetrarch,  and 
raised  to  the  dignity  of  a  town  un- 
der the  name  of  Julias,  after  the 
daughter  of  the  emperor."  Dr. 
Thomson,  however,  rejects  the  "in- 
vention of  a  second  Bethsaida  as 
wholly  unnecessary,"  and  says  that 
Reland,  "who  first  started  the  idea, 
confesses  that  he  has  no  authority 
for  it,  but  merely  resorts  to  it  .  .  . 
to  solve  "  a  difficulty.  Dr.  Thomson 
believes  the  town  to  have  been  built 
on  both  sides  of  the  Jordan ;  and  Dr. 
Hackett  thinks  this  supposition 
might  aid  in  understanding  certain 
statements  in  the  Gospels  which 
have  hitherto  been  attended  with 
much  difficulty.  Capernaum — See 
note  on  4  :  13. 

Tyre  and  Sido?i — Celebrated  an- 
cient cities  of  Phoenicia  Proper,  which 
was  "a  narrow  undulating  plain  "  on 
the  eastern  coast  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean, "only  twenty-eight  miles  in 
length,  and  in  average  breadth  about 
a  mile."  Though  so  small,  it  long 
held  commanding  influence  in  the 
world.  Its  latitude  was  about  the 
same  as  that  of  South  Carolina. 
The  two  cities  were  about  twenty 


144 


MATTHEW. 


shalt  be  brought  down  to  hell : 
for  if  the  mighty  works,  which 
have  been  done  in  thee,  had 


miles  from  each  other.  Tyre  was 
about  one  hundred  and  two  English 
miles  from  Jerusalem.  Its  govern- 
ment was  a  monarchy.  Tt  was  cele- 
brated for  its  commerce,  its  wealth, 
its  mechanical  arts.  Its  merchants 
were  "merchant  princes."  It  im- 
ported gold  from  Arabia,  silver,  iron, 
lead,  and  tin  from  Spain,  and  cop- 
per from  districts  on  the  south  of  the 
Black  Sea.  It  drew  wheat,  oil, 
honey,  and  balm  from  Palestine, 
wine  from  Damascus,  lambs  from 
Arabia,  linen  from  Egypt,  ivory  and 
ebony  from  an  island  in  the  Persian 
Gulf.  The  religion  of  Tyre  and  Si- 
don  was  idolatrous.  The  people 
were  not  Jews,  but  heathen.  It  was 
a  very  wicked  city.  Sidon  or  Zidon 
means  fishery.  It  was  celebrated 
for  the  skill  of  its  mechanics,  and, 
like  Tyre,  was  long  distinguished 
for  its  prosperity.  Like  its  southern 
neighbor,  it  was  given  to  idolatry. 
It  still  exists  under  the  name  of 
Saida.  Sodom — See  note  on  10  :  15. 

Jesus  contrasts  Capernaum  with 
Sodom,  and  Chorazin  and  Bethsaida 
with  Tyre  and  Sidon.  The  ancient 
cities  had  no  such  manifestation  of 
the  power  and  the  goodness  of  God 
as  the  modern  Galilean  cities  had 
had  in  the  miracles  of  Jesus.  Would 
have  repented — They  ought  to  have 
repented  as  it  was.  Rom.  1 :  20. 
With  what  sublime  independence  of 
all  dogmas,  whether  of  theology  or 
philosophy,  does  Jesus  assume  the 
freedom  of  the  human  will !  Would 
have '  repented !  Sackcloth  —  "A 
coarse  texture  of  a  dark  color,  made 
of  goats'  hair.  It  was  used,  1.  For 
making  sacks;  and, 2.  For  making 
the  rough  garments  used  by  mourn- 
ers, which  were  in  extreme  cases 
worn  next  the  skin."  Ashes  were 
sprinkled  by  many  of  the  ancients 
upon  their  persons  as  a  sign  of 
mourning.  Esther  4:1;  Job  2  :  12. 

Hell — In  5  :  22  is  the  word  hell  in 


been  done  in  Sodom,  it  would 
have  remained  until  this  day. 
24  But  I  say  unto  you,  That 

connection  with  fire.  But  not  the 
same  Greek  word  is  used.  There, 
as  we  have  seen,  the  word  is  Gehen- 
na, meaning  the  place  of  punish- 
ment after  death,  and  is  properly 
translated  hell.  Here  the  word  is 
Hades.  What  does  this  word  mean  ? 
It  is  very  generally  held  that  it 
means,  not  the  place  of  future  pun- 
ishment, but  the  world  of  disem- 
bodied human  spirits  irrespective 
of  character.  If  this  is  its  true  im- 
port, the  English  word  hell  leads  the 
reader  astray.  Of  those  who  con- 
sider this  as  its  true  meaning,  some 
(Dr.  Conant  and  the  Revised  New 
Testament  of  the  Bible  Union)  would 
render  it  underworld ;  and  others, 
objecting  to  that  as  also  tending  to 
lead  astray,  would  not  translate  it 
at  all,  but  use  the  word  itself 
(Hades).  The  etymological  meaning 
of  the  term  is  invisible.  The  origi- 
nal, general  notion  of  the  word, 
therefore,  has  reference  to  the  fu- 
ture world  as  invisible. 

Some  are  unable  to  accept,  fully, 
the  above  view  of  the  word.  Prof. 
N.  H.  Griffin  (Williams  College) 
says:1  "We  do  not  find,  in  the 
Scriptures,  a  passage  which  requires 
the  term  Hades  to  be  referred  to 
any  indiscriminate  abode  of  the 
dead,  other  than  the  grave  :  there  is 
not  a  passage  which  speaks  of  a 
righteous  man  as  going  to  it,  or  be- 
ing connected  with  it.  .  .  .  In  fact, 
we  know  of  no  term,  of  any  kind, 
in  the  Scriptures,  denoting  any 
place,  beyond  this  world,  that  is 
common  to  the  righteous  and  wicked. 
They  are  all  distinctive,  denoting 
either  a  place  of  happiness  or  mis- 
ery." According  to  Prof.  Griffin, 
the  only  difference  between  Gehen- 
na and  Hades  is,  that  Gehenna  al- 
ways refers  to  the  future  punishment 
of  the  wicked,  while  Hades  is  also 

1  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  January,  1856. 


CHAPTER    XI. 


U5 


it  shall  be  more  tolerable  for 
the  land  of  Sodom,  in  the  day 
of  judgment,  than  for  thee. 

25  %  At  that  time  Jesus  an- 
swered and  said,  I  thank  thee, 
O  Father,  Lord  of  heaven  and 


often  used  of  the  grave.  Prof. 
Bartlett  takes  substantially  the  same 
view.  Both  writers  hold  that  "  a 
sort  of  heathen  mythology  has  been 
forced  upon  the  sacred  writers,"  ad- 
mitting that  in  heathen  classics  the 
idea  of  an  indiscriminate  abode  of 
the  righteous  and  wicked  as  disem- 
bodied spirits  is  found  in  the  term 
Hades,  but  denying  that  Hades  is 
ever  so  used  in  the  New  Testament. 
" Throughout  the  New  Testament," 
says  Prof.  Bartlett,  "Hades  seems 
invariably  viewed  as  the  enemy  of 
man,  and  from  its  alliance  with  sin 
and  its  doom,  as  hostile  to  Christ 
and  his  church.  In  many  instances, 
it  is  with  strict  propriety  translated 
'hell.'"  In  support  of  the  view 
which  they  present,  both  professors 
quote  Luke  16 :  23 :  And  in  hell 
[Hades,  not  Gehenna]  he  lifted  up 
his  eyes,  being  in  torments.  In  the 
passage  before  us,  hell  is  used  as  the 
opposite  of  heaven. 

The  day  of  judgment — Future 
with  respect  to  Sodom,  for  temporal 
ruin  had  fallen  upon  it  long  before. 
Shall  be  more  tolerable — Future, 
then,  with  respect  to  Tyre  and  Si- 
don.  Would  have  remained — Many 
of  the  " liberal"  thinkers  of  our 
times  virtually  bind  all  natural  laws 
in  the  bonds  of  necessity.  The  peo- 
ple of  Capernaum  had  more  light 
than  the  people  of  Sodom.  But  we 
have  more  light  than  the  people  of 
Capernaum.  Our  criminality  is 
greater,  therefore,  than  even  theirs, 
if  we  believe  not.  The  punishment, 
then,  must  be  greater. 

25,  26.  I  thank  thee — Not  mere 
thanks,  but  a  thankful  confession 
of  the  Father's  justice  and  grace. 
Because — That.  Hast  hid — How? 
' '  Those,"  says  a  Methodist  com- 
13 


earth,  because  thou  hast  hid 
these  things  from  the  wise  and 
prudent,  and  hast  revealed 
them  unto  babes. 

26  Even  so,  Father ;  for  so 
it  seemed  good  in  thy  sight. 


mentator,  "who  understand  by  this 
text  that  God  has  from  all  eternity 
made  salvation  impossible  to  be  at- 
tained by  a  fixed  part  of  mankind, 
wrong  divine  justice,  and  abuse  our 
Lord's  words."  The  same  writer 
assumes  that  "Calvinists  and  other 
predestinarians  "  believe  that  God's 
plan  predestinates  and  fixes  all  the 
wicked  acts  of  wicked  men,  and 
then  fixes  their  damnation  for  com- 
mitting those  decreed  acts.  If  there 
is  one  of  the  thirteen  thousand  Bap- 
tist churches  in  the  United  States 
that  has  adopted  Articles  of  Faith 
that  teach  such  a  view  of  God's  gov- 
ernment, we  have  yet  to  learn  the 
fact.  Nor  are  such  doctrines  taught 
or  held  by  the  Congregational,  or 
the  Presbyterian,  or  the  Episcopal 
churches.  How  hid  f  Not  in  any 
manner  that  conflicts  with  the  teach- 
ings of  our  Lord,  Ye  will  not  come 
to  me  that  ye  might  have  life.  The 
wise  and  prudent — Those  who,  like 
the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  profess 
to  have  great  spiritual  discernment, 
but  have  none.  It  is  also  applica- 
ble to  those  who  profess  to  know  so 
much  by  means  of  nature,  or  rea- 
son, or  "intuition,"  or  "  the  inner 
light,"  or  communion  with  spirits 
through  a  "medium,"  that  they 
need  no  written  revelation.  These 
things — The  spiritual  lessons  which 
are  to  be  derived  from  the  Saviour's 
words  and  works.  Revealed  to 
whom  ?  To  babes — That  is,  the  hum- 
ble, teachable,  those  who  acknowl- 
edge their  want  of  wisdom.  It  would 
not  be  just,  however,  to  infer  from 
the  Saviour's  words  that  any  of  our 
race  are  naturally,  that  is,  without 
divine  assistance,  disposed  to  re- 
ceive Christ  as  their  spiritual  king. 
The  point  of  harmony  between  God's 


146 


MATTHEW. 


27  All  things  are  delivered 
unto  me  of  my  Father  :  and  no 
man  knoweth  the  Son,  but  the 
Father;  neither  knoweth  any 
man  the  Father,  save  the  Son, 
and  he  to  whomsoever  the  Son 
will  reveal  him. 


action  upon  men  in  giving  them 
spiritual  life  and  their  own  free  acts 
always  escapes  us.  God  never  acts 
upon  men  for  the  purpose  of  making 
them  sin,  but  it  is  matter  of  fact  that 
God  does  not  reveal  the  Son  by  his 
Spirit  to  all.  Millions  of  our  race 
have  died  without  knowing  Christ 
even  by  name.  Seemed  good — There- 
fore not  arbitrary.  Whether  we  can 
see  it  or  not,  God  sees  good  reason 
for  hiding, — they  are  wise  in  their 
own  eyes. 

27.  All  things — Everything  per- 
taining to  the  mediatorial  kingdom. 
Are  delivered  to  me — It  must  not  be 
inferred  that  Christ  was  not  equal 
with  the  Father.  In  these  words  he 
says  nothing  whatever  concerning 
his  original,  essential  nature ;  but 
speaks  only  of  his  relations  to  the 
Father  in  the  work  of  mediation. 
That  work  belongs  peculiarly  to  the 
Son,  and  being  so  understood  by  the 
Father,  all  the  things  embraced  in 
that  work  may  be  said  to  have  been 
delivered  by  the  Father  to  the  Son. 
Knoweth  the  Son — His  person  and 
work  in  the  deeper  sense.  No  man 
— A  peculiarly  unfortunate  render- 
ing, as  if  the  Father  himself  were  a 
man.  No  one  is  correct.  No  one 
knows  the  Son  but  the  Father.  A 
similar  change  should  be  made  in 
the  next  clause :  Neither  knoweth 
any  man  (any  one)  the  Father. 
The  Father  knows  the  Son  and  the 
Son  the  Father  in  a  sense  which  can 
never  be  revealed  to  any  created  be- 
ing whatever;  but  that  knowledge 
of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  which 
is  possible  to  men  through  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  indefinite  in  measure  and 
richness.  That  we  cannot  know  the 
Father,  except  through  Christ,  is  a 


28  1  Come  unto  me,  all  ye 
that  labor  and  are  heavy  la- 
den, and  I  will  give  you  rest. 

29  Take  my  yoke  upon  yon, 
and  learn  of  me  ;  for  I  am  meek 
and  lowly  in  heart :  and  ye 
shall  find  rest  unto  your  souls. 

sentiment  than  which  none  is  more 
obnoxious  to  the  modern  rationalis- 
tic philosophy.  "The  moment," 
said  one  of  its  disciples,1  "we  call 
ourselves  by  the  name  of  Christ,  we 
lose,  if  not  the  spirit,  the  true  ex- 
pression, of  truth."  "Religion," 
said  another,  "  is  the  affirmation  of 
the  spirit  made  in  the  soul  of  man, 
— the  report  which  the  spirit  makes 
of  itself.  So  we  can  say,  '  I  know.'" 
The  Son  will  reveal — The  Son  is 
pleased  to  reveal. 

28.  How  sweetly  do  these  words 
fall  upon  the  ear !  Shall  be  brought 
down  to  hell,  and  hid  from  the  wise 
and  prudent,  sounded  like  the  knell 
of  the  hopes  of  many,  but  now  he 
shows  the  deep  tenderness  of  bis 
spirit  and  the  all-embracing  charac- 
ter of  his  love;  Come,  all.  That  la- 
bor, etc. — The  Jewish  people  were 
bending  under  the  weight  of  tradi- 
tions, and  some  of  them  were  con- 
scious of  the  load.  The  invitation, 
however,  is  not  restricted  to  those 
who  are  conscious  of  their  burdens. 
Jesus  would  awaken  in  all  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  load  they  are  car- 
rying, that  they  may  be  induced  to 
come.  Rest — Not  bodily  or  intel- 
lectual ease,  which  would  be  no  re- 
lief, but  '■'■rest  in  the  soul,  which 
shall  make  all  yokes  easy  and  all 
burdens  light."  Me  .  .  .  /—The 
full  preciousness  of  the  meaning  will 
not  be  seen  unless  these  pronouns 
are  regarded  as  emphatic,  distin- 
guishing Jesus  Christ  from  the 
heartless,  heavily  loading  scribes, 
and  from  all  others  who  profess 
ability  to  give  men  rest. 

29.  Yoke — As  the  ox  is  brought 

i  In  Horticultural  Hall,  Boston,  May 
31,  1867. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


147 


30  Foi  my  yoke  is  easy,  and 
my  burden  is  light. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

AT  that  time  Jesus  went  on 
the   sabbath  day  through 


under  control  by  means  of  the  yoke, 
so  a  human  being  may  be  said  to  be 
under  the  yoke  if  he  is  under  con- 
trol. An  old  Greek  classic  speaks 
of  the  "yoke  of  bondage,"  and  Paul 
(1  Tim.  6 :  1)  says,  Let  as  many 
servants  as  are  under  the  yoke,  etc. 
Peter  says  (Acts  15  :  10),  Now  there- 
fore why  tempt  ye  God,  to  put  [by 
putting]  a  yoke  upon  the  neck  of 
the  disciples,  which  neither  our 
fathers  nor  we  were  able  to  bear? 
In  his  letter  to  the  Galatians  (5  :  1) 
Paul  says,  Be  not  entangled  again 
with  the  yoke  of  bondage.  The 
yoke  which  Jesus  here  commands 
us  to  take  cannot  be  that  against 
which  his  own  apostles  inveighed. 
His  yoke  is  the  precepts  which  he 
enjoins.  But,  as  we  saw  in  our 
study  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 
his  precepts  are  even  more  exacting 
than  those  of  Moses ;  that  is,  they 
are  the  precepts  of  Moses  fulfilled, — 
developed  into  their  true,  original 
meaning.  Take — The  soul  must 
choose  it  and  be  cheerful  in  its 
choice.  Meek  and  lowly — Qualities 
which  are  generally  deemed  desira- 
ble in  the  learner  arc  here  professed 
by  this  divine  teacher.  Jesus  looks 
with  love  upon  that  which  is  low, 
though  he  is  above  all.  Rational- 
ism is  unfit  by  its  intense  pride  to 
teach  the  world. 

30-  My  yoke  is  easy — Notice  here, 
also,  the  emphatic  my,  by  which  his 
yoke  is  contrasted  with  that  of  the 
scribes  and  Pharisees.  But  if  his 
precepts  are  even  more  rigorous 
than  those  of  Moses  (see  above), 
how  can  he  say  that  his  yoke  is 
easy,  when  his  apostles  seem  to 
speak  of  the  law  of  Moses  as  a  yoke 
of  bondage  ?     The   apostles   never 


the  corn ;  and  his  disciples 
were  a  hungered,  and  began  to 
pluck  the  ears  of  corn,  and  to 
eat. 

2  But  when  the  Pharisees 
saw  it,  they  said  unto  him,  Be- 
hold,   thy    disciples     do    that 


spoke  of  the  law  of  Moses  as  a 
heavy  yoke,  except  so  far  as  it  was 
used  as  a  means  of  justification. 
Moses  spoke  of  Christ.  The  entire 
system  of  Moses  had  no  significant 
cy  except  as  the  shadow  of  Chris- 
tianity. He,  therefore,  who  used  the 
Mosaic  precepts,  not  in  their  true 
import,  but  as  the  ground  of  justifi- 
cation, took  upon  himself  a  heavy, 
galling  yoke.  Christ's  yoke  is  easy, 
because  obedience  to  his  precepts  is 
not  required  as  a  ground  of  justifi- 
cation. 31  y  burden,  light — The  ex- 
planation must  be  essentially  the 
same  as  that  of  the  easy  yoke. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

THE    DISCIPLES    PLUCKING    EARS    OF 

grain;  JESUS  healing  a  WITH- 
ERED HAND,  AND  FALSELY  ACCUSED 
BY  THE  PHARISEES,  ETC. 

T81  TJ.C.     Summer,  A.».  29. 

1.  At  that  time — Indefinite.  The 
incident,  after  the  manner  of  Mat- 
thew, seems  not  to  be  related  in 
chronological  order.  The  date 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  chapter  is 
taken,  like  all  such  dates,  from 
"  Andrews'  Life  of  Christ,"  yet  the 
reader  should  be  apprised  that  there 
is  great  uncertainty  relative  to  the 
matter.  The  sabbath-day  —  The 
Jewish  Sabbath,  answering  to  our 
Saturday.  The  field  lay,  probably, 
near  Capernaum,  within  a  sabbath- 
day's  walk  of  the  city.  Through 
the  corn — The  grain-fields.  In  the 
United  States  the  word  corn  is  com- 
monly used  for  maize,  Indian  corn, 
though  it  is  also  a  general  word  for 
different  kinds    of   grain.      Indian 


148 


MATTHEW. 


which  is  not  lawful  to  do  upon 
the  sabbath  clay, 

3  But  he  said  unto  them, 
Have  ye  not  read  what  David 
did,  when  he  was  a  hungered, 
and  they  that  were  with  him  ; 

4  How  he  entered  into  the 

corn  was  unknown  in  Palestine. 
The  field  here  referred  to  was  proba- 
bly either  barley  or  wheat. 

2.  When  the  Pharisees  saw  it — 
The  suggestion  has  been  made,  and 
it  is  not  unreasonable,  that  they  had 
followed  him  out  of  Capernaum  to 
see  if  his  walk  was  more  than  their 
scrupulous  notions  regarded  as  law- 
ful on  the  Sabbath.  Not  lawful — 
Not  taking  the  grain,  but  taking  it 
on  the  Sabbath.  The  law  said 
(Deut.  23:  25),  When  thou  comest 
into  the  standing  corn  of  thy  neigh- 
bor, then  thou  may  est  pluck  the  ears 
with  thy  hand, ;  but  thou  shalt  not 
move  a  sickle  unto  thy  neighbor's 
standing  corn.  "  When  travelling 
in  harvest-time,"  says  Thomson, 
"my  muleteers  have  very  often  thus 
prepared  parched  corn  in  the  even- 
ings after  the  tent  has  been  pitched. 
Nor  is  the  gathering  of  these  green 
ears  ever  regarded  as  stealing.  Af- 
ter it  has  been  roasted,  it  is  rubbed 
out  in  the  hand,  and  eaten  as  there 
is  occasion.  ...  So  also  I  have 
often  seen  my  muleteers,  as  we 
passed  along  the  wheat-fields,  pluck 
off  ears,  rub  them  in  their  hands, 
and  eat  the  grains,  unroasted,  just 
as  the  apostles  are  said  to  have 
done."  The  Pharisees  (those  here 
mentioned  were  probably  of  Caper- 
naum) were  stricter  than  the  law. 
It  was  held  that  "  he  who  reapeth 
grain  on  the  Sabbath,  to  the  quan- 
tity of  a  fig,  is  guilty.  And  plucking 
corn  is  as  reaping."  Sowing  the 
poisonous  seeds  of  traditionalism 
was  no  sin !  Plucking  a  few  heads 
of  grain  on  the  Sabbath  to  appease 
hunger  was  a  crime  !  Such  is  the 
6pirit  of  ritualism  in  all  times. 

3.  What  David  did — See  the  ac- 


house  of  God,  and  did  eat  the 
shewbread,  which  was  not  law- 
ful for  him  to  eat,  neither  for 
them  which  were  with  him,  but 
only  for  the  priests  ? 

5  Or  have  3re  not  read  in  the 
law,  how  that  on  the  sabbath 


count  in  1  Sam.  21 :  1-6.  Have  ye 
not  read  ? — Their  criticism  was, 
therefore,  the  more  inexcusable. 

4.  The  city  in  which  the  incident 
occurred  was  Nob,  where,  in  the 
time  of  Saul,  the  tabernacle  was 
kept.  According  to  Dr.  Robinson, 
'•it  must  have  been  situated  some- 
where upon  the  ridge  of  the  Mount 
of  Olives,  noi'th-east  of  the  city." 
Sheic-bread — Twelve  loaves  of  bread 
kept  on  a  table  in  the  Holy  Place, 
first,  of  the  tabernacle,  and  after- 
ward of  the  temple,  one  week,  and 
on  the  Sabbath  eaten  by  the  priests, 
new  loaves  supplying  the  place  of 
those  eaten.  The  original  word 
means  "bread  of  the  face  or  faces." 
In  translating  into  German,  Luther 
used  Schaubrode,  "  from  which  our 
subsequent  English  versions  have 
adopted  the  title  shew-bread."  By 
bread  of  the  face  is  meant  bread  of 
the  presence;  that  is,  the  presence 
of  God.  It  was  probably  a  symbol 
of  spiritual  bread.  It  was  to  be  eaten 
by  none  but  priests, — that  was  the 
letter  of  the  law.  But  David  ate  it 
when  hungry  in  his  flight  from  Saul, 
and  the  Pharisees  are  not  known  to 
have  blamed  him.  They  of  course 
justified  the  act  on  the  ground  that 
in  a  case  of  that  sort  it  was  no  vio- 
lation of  the  law,  for  the  law  was 
more  merciful  than  to  let  men  starve, 
if  eating  some  of  the  shew-bread 
would  prevent  it.  But  the  disciples 
were  not  violating  even  the  letter 
of  the  law.  To  say  that  their  act 
was  equivalent  to  harvesting  on  the 
Sabbath  was  a  species  of  violenc-e 
in  interpretation  to  which  none  but 
the  Pharisee's  were  equal. 

5.  But  Jesus  and  his  disciples 
were  in  no  danger  of  starving.  An- 


CHAPTER  XII. 


149 


days  the  priests  in  the  temple 
profane  the  sabbath,  and  are 
blameless  ? 

6  But  I  say  unto  you,  That 
in  this  place  is  one  greater  than 
the  temple. 

7  But  if  ye  had  known  what 
this  meaneth,  I  will  have  mer- 


other  line  of  defence  is  therefore 
taken.  The  priests  were  required  to 
do  even  more  work  on  the  Sabbath 
than  on  any  other  day;  for  they 
were  to  bake  the  shew-bread  and  to 
offer  four  lambs  instead  of  two. 
There  is  no  evidence  that  the  Phari- 
sees regarded  these  as  profane  acts, 
though  upon  their  own  principles 
they  ought  to  have  so  regarded 
them.  But  if  they  could  find  no 
fault  with  the  priests  for  working  on 
the  Sabbath,  and  twice  as  much  as 
usual,  and  in  the  temple  itself,  why 
should  they  blame  him  and  his  dis- 
ciples for  plucking,  rubbing,  and 
eating  corn  to  appease  hunger? 

6-8.  Jesus  concludes  his  defence 
with  wonderful  force.  David  was  a 
king,  the  men  who  offered  the  sac- 
rifices were  priests,  the  temple  was 
greater  than  both  priests  and  king, 
but  Jesus  is  greater  than  the  tem- 
ple ("the  True  Temple  of  God  on 
earth") , — another  of  those  remarka- 
ble sayings  which  prove  Jesus  to 
have  been  the  most  arrogant  of  men 
if  he  was  not  one  in  nature  with  the 
Father.  It  is  not  surprising,  con- 
sidering their  blindness,  that  the 
Pharisees  soon  became  exasperated. 
Jesus  accuses  them  of  not  under- 
standing their  own  Scriptures. 
Hosea  6 :  6.  See  note  on  9  :  13, 
where  the  same  quotation  is  found. 
The  guiltless — The  disciples  who 
had  plucked  the  ears  of  grain.  He 
means  to  say  that  they  are  blame- 
less in  respect  to  the  act  in  ques- 
tion. In  how  much  higher  sense 
was  Christ  blameless  !  Who  did  no 
sin ! 

Son  of  man — The  evangelists 
never  call  Christ  the  Son  of  man, 
13* 


cy,  and  not  sacrifice,  ye  would 
not  have  condemned  the  guilt- 
less. 

8  For  the  Son  of  man  is  Lord 
even  of  the  sabbath  day. 

9  And  when  he  was  departed 
thence,  he  went  into  their  syn- 
agogue : 


but  Christ  often  called  himself  so. 
1.  The  appellation  presents  Christ 
in  his  humanity.  He  was  truly  man 
as  well  as  truly  God,  and,  remem- 
bering that  in  a  few  years  after  his 
ascension  a  sect  arose  under  the 
name  of  Docetae  {Seemists),  which 
affirmed  that  he  did  not  have  a  body 
of  flesh,  but  only  seemed  to  have ; 
that  he  was  not  a  real  man,  we  shall 
see  the  importance  of  the  designa- 
tion. 2.  It  expresses  the  humilia- 
tion of  his  state.  "It  was  as  the 
Son  of  man  that  he  humbled  him- 
self; it  is  as  the  Son  of  man  that 
he  is  exalted ;  it  was  as  Son  of  man, 
born  of  a  woman,  that  he  was  made 
under  the  law,  and  as  Son  of  man 
that  he  was  Lord  of  the  Sabbath 
day ;  as  Son  of  man  he  suffered  for 
sins.  .  .  .  It  was  as  Son  of  man  that 
he  had  not  where  to  lay  his  head. 
.  .  .  Only  the  pure  in  heart  will  see 
God,  but  the  evil  as  well  as  the  good 
shall  see  their  Judge  :  '  Every  eye 
shall  see  him.'  " 

Lord  of  the  Sabbath — He  had, 
therefore,  the  right  to  abolish  it,  but 
neither  here  nor  elsewhere  does 
he  intimate  a  purpose  to  do  so.  He 
had  the  right  to  interpret  the  Sab- 
batic law  both  by  words  and  prac- 
tice according  to  what  he  knew  was 
its  true  import.  See  more  on  this 
important  subject  in  the  note  on 
Mark  2:  27,  28.  Whether  Jesus 
Christ  should  be  called  Lord,  as  was 
once  gravely  debated  in  a  Christian 
Convention,  so  called,  admits  of  a 
ready  answer ;  for  if  he  is  Lord  of 
the  Sabbath,  of  what,  or  of  whom, 
may  lie  not  be  Lord? 

9.  The  incident  about  to  be  re- 
lated occurred,  it  would  seem,  in 


150 


MATTHEW. 


10  ^T  And,  behold,  there  was 
a  man  which  had  his  hand  with- 
ered. And  they  asked  him, 
saying,  Is  it  lawful  to  heal  on 
the  sabbath  days?  that  they 
might  accuse  him. 

11  And  he  said  unto  them, 
What  man  shall  there  be  among 


the  synagogue  of  Capernaum  (Luke 
6:  6),  and  on  another  Sabbath, 
probably  the  next  one.  Was  de- 
parted, like  ivas  entered,  is  not  good 
English.  It  should  be  had  departed, 
or,  departing. 

10.  This  miracle,  wrought  upon 
the  Sabbath,  may  be  regarded  as 
proof  that  Jesus  was  indeed  Lord 
of  the  Sabbath.  "The  withered 
hand  of  Jeroboam  (1  Kings  13  :  4-6), 
and  of  the  man  (Matt.  12  :  10-13),  is 
such  an  effect  as  is  knoAvn  to  follow 
from  the  obliteration  of  the  main  ar- 
tery of  any  member,  or  from  paraly- 
sis of  the  principal  nerve,  either 
through  disease  or  through  injury. 
A  case,  with  a  symptom  exactly  par- 
allel to  that  of  Jeroboam,  is  men- 
tioned in  the  life  of  Gabriel,  an  Arab 
physician.  It  was  that  of  a  woman 
whose  hand  had  become  rigid  in 
the  act  of  swinging,  and  remained 
in  the  extended  posture.  The  most 
remarkable  feature  in  the  case,  as 
related,  is  the  remedy,  which  con- 
sisted in  alarm  acting  on  the  nerves, 
inducing  a  sudden  and  spontaneous 
effort  to  use  the  limb, — an  effort 
which,  like  that  of  the  dumb  son  of 
Croesus,  was  paradoxically  success- 
ful."— Smith's  Dictionary.  This  il- 
lustration fails  to  meet  the  case  in 
the  text.  The  withered  hand  of  the 
Gospel  is  more  than  a  rigid  hand. 
"  The  disease,  which  probably  ex- 
tended throughout  the  whole  arm, 
was  one  occasioned  by  a  deficient 
absorption  of  nutriment  in  the  limb ; 
it  was  in  fact  a  partial  atrophy, 
showing  itself  in  a  general  wasting 
of  the  limb,  with  a  loss  of  its  powers 
of  motion,  and  ending  with  its  total 
ut^ath.  When  once  thoroughly  «'stab- 


3^on,  that  shall  have  one  sheep 
and  if  it  fall  into  a  pit  on  the 
sabbath  da}^,  will  he  not  la) 
hold  on  it,  and  lift  it  out? 

12  How  much  then  is  a  man 
better  than  a  sheep  ?  Where- 
fore it  is  lawful  to  do  well  on 
the  sabbath  days. 


lished,  it  is  incurable  by  any  art  of 
man." — Trench.  It  may  be  added 
that  Christ  never  attempted  to  cure 
by  alarm.  They — The  scribes  and 
Pharisees.  Accuse — Enter  a  com- 
plaint before  the  court  of  seven  in 
Capernaum.  Bent  on  taking  his 
life,  they  are  now  trying  to  get  what 
they  can  make  serve  as  sufficient 
evidence  against  him.  Life  given  to 
this  man's  hand  will  be  one  means 
of  bringing  Christ  to  death,  and  so 
unnumbered  millions  to  life. 

11,12.  Jesus  replies  to  the  cate- 
chising Pharisees  by  arguing  from 
the  less  to  the  greater,  taking  his 
illustration  of  the  less  from  their 
own  course  of  procedure ;  and  the 
less  is  a  thing  of  so  little  value,  that 
it  can  be  said  of  it,  How  much 
better  is  a  man !  Afterward  the 
Jews  became  stricter  respecting 
even  raising  a  sheep  from  a  pit  on 
the  Sabbath.  It  was  taught  that  it 
would  be  right,  however,  to  lay 
down  a  plank  that  it  might  walk  out 
itself!  But  would  the  man  have 
died  had  the  cure  been  postponed, 
as  a  sheep  might  have  died  if  not 
rescued?  Reply:  1.  The  physi- 
cian was  there ;  2.  No  divine  law 
made  it  a  sin  to  cure  him  on  the 
Sabbath ;  3.  Health  and  happiness 
one  day  sooner  wei-c  desirable ;  4. 
It  was  well  that  the  enmity  of  the 
Pharisees  should  be  brought  out. 
Lawful  to  do  well — A  good  deed 
must  not  be  postponed.  Physicians 
ought  not  to  postpone  visiting  a 
patient  till  the  Sabbath,  provided 
his  case  will  permit  the  visit  to  be 
made  on  Saturday.  Many  personi 
postpone  sending  for  a  physicial 
till  the    Sabbath,  for  the  sak*   it 


CHAPTER  XII. 


151 


13  Then  saitii  he  to  the  man, 
Stretch  forth  thine  hand.  And 
he  stretched  it  forth ;  and  it 
was  restored  whole,  like  as  the 
other. 

14  %  Then  the  Pharisees 
went  out,  and  held  a  council 
against  him,  how  they  might 
destroy  him. 

15  But  when  Jesus  knew 
it,  he  withdrew  himself  from 

"saving  time."  Conscientious  phy- 
sicians will  make  every  possible  ef- 
fort to  attend  the  public  worship  of 
God.  Had  Jesus  met  this  man  -the 
day  before,  he  would  not  have  post- 
poned the  cure  till  the  Sabbath,  for 
the  sake  of  saving  time. 

13.  Christ  really  did  no  work; 
he  cured  the  man  by  the  mere  act 
of  his  will;  telling  the  man  to 
stretch  forth  his  hand,  was  not 
work.  This  is  one  of  our  Lord's 
most  wonderful  miracles,  as  not  the 
least  thread  of  connection  is  to  be 
seen  between  the  act  of  his  will 
and  the  cure.  It  is  also  a  very  in- 
structive case.  Our  Lord  com- 
manded the  man  to  do  what  to  him 
was  impossible.  Had  any  other, 
not  endowed  with  power  to  work 
miracles,  commanded  him  to  do  it, 
the  effort  to  do  it  would  have  been 
unreasonable.  It  is  reasonable  to 
attempt  to  do  whatever  Christ  com- 
mands. Christ  commands  men  to 
repent,  and  therefore  the  effort  to 
repent  is  a  perfectly  reasonable  act. 
Men  need,  however,  the  aid  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  do  this  very  thing. 
To  say  that  men  have  the  power 
■'  to  will  to  obey  if  they  will  use  it " 
(a  Methodist  writer),  is  much  like 
saying  that  men  may  will,  if  they 
will  to  will  to  will,  and  so  on  with- 
out end.  Stretching  forth  the  hand 
was  the  man's  own  act,  and  only 
his ;  ministering  strength  to  him  to 
do  it  was  Christ's  aet,  and  only  his. 
Repentance  is  the  sinner's  act,  and 
his   only;    the   strength   by  which 


thence :  and  great  multitudes 
followed  him,  and  he  healed 
them  all ; 

16  And  charged  them  that 
they  should  not  make  him 
known : 

17  That  it  might  be  fulfilled 
which  was  spoken  by  Esaias 
the  prophet,  saying, 

18  Behold  my  servant,  whom 
I  have  chosen  ;  my  beloved,  in 


he  repents  is    Christ's,   and    only 
Christ's. 

14.  Held  a  council — Not,  called 
together  the  great  national  San- 
hedrim, or  any  other  council,  but 
held  an  informal  consultation.  En- 
mity to  our  Lord  was  now  becom- 
ing strong,  and  was  attempting  or- 
ganization. The  Pharisees  every- 
where were  almost  a  unit  in  their 
opposition.  There  was  doubtless 
some  concert  between  those  at  Jeru- 
salem and  those  at  Capernaum.  The, 
difference  between  the  ritualism  of 
that  day  and  the  rationalism  of 
this :  That  admitted  the  reality  of 
the  miracles,  but  rejected  him  that 
wrought  them;  this  denies  the 
miracles,  but  claims  the  name  of 
Christian. 

15.  Withdrew — Not  through  fear. 
He  had  shown  his  superiority  to 
fear  by  healing  the  man  on  the  Sab- 
bath before  their  eyes,  their  former 
criticism  (vs.  2)  notwithstanding. 
He  withdrew  that  his  work  might 
not  be  cut  short  before  all  had  been 
done  that  was  necessary  for  laying 
the  foundation  of  his  kingdom.  Had 
he  permitted  himself  to  be  taken 
and  put  to  death  then,  many  a 
bruised  reed  would  have  been 
broken,  and  much  smoking  flax 
would  have  been  quenched. 

16.  See  note  on  8  :  4. 

17.  Not,  so  that  it  was  fulfilled. 
The  correctness,  in  all  cases,  of  the 
form,  that  it  might  he  fulfilled,  im- 
plying purpose,  "may  now  be  re- 
garded as  a  settled  point." 


152 


MATTHEW. 


whom  my  soul  is  well  pleased  : 
I  will  put  m}'  Spirit  upon  bira, 
and  he  shall  shew  judgment  to 
the  Gentiles. 

19  He  shall  not  strive,  nor 
cry ;  neither  shall  any  man 
hear  his  voice  in  the  streets. 

20  A  bruised  reed  shall  he 
not  break,  and  smoking  flax 
shall  he  not  quench,  till  he  send 
forth  judgment  unto  victory. 


18-21.  The  words  are  quoted 
from  Isa.  42:  1-4.  The  Holy 
Spirit,  speaking  through  Matthew, 
applies  them  to  Jesus  Christ,  though 
uttered  by  the  prophet  more  than 
seven  hundred  years  before.  Those 
who  deny  all  prophecy  will  of 
course  deny  that  Isaiah  spoke  these 
words  concerning  the  coming  Mes- 
siah, but  the  application  here  made 
settles  the  question.  Some  have 
referred  them  to  the  Jewish  people ; 
some  to  Cyrus  ;  some  to  Isaiah  him- 
self. Shall  show  judgment  to  the 
Gentiles — Shall  make  known  "the 
religion  of  Jehovah,  as  revealed  in 
the  gospel."  As  the  Gospel  accord- 
ing to  Matthew  was  intended  pri- 
marily for  Jews,  this  reference  \o 
the  conversion  of  Gentiles  shows 
that  Matthew  wrote  in  no  exclu- 
siveness  of  spirit.  Shall  not  strive, 
etc. — Unlike  false  leaders  in  relig- 
ion, Jesus  was  distinguished  for 
gentleness  of  manner  and  spirit. 
Bruised,  etc. — A  partly-broken  reed 
will  he  not  break  in  two.  Flax — 
Made  into  a  wick.  Smoking — Dim- 
ly burning.  A  dimly  burning  taper 
he  will  not  extinguish.  Souls  op- 
pressed by  the  consciousness  of  sin 
he  will  not  destroy.  Souls  in  whom 
there  is  a  spark  of  desire  for  spirit- 
ual life,  he  will  not  reject.  Though 
expressed  negatively,  it  is  a  strong 
affirmation  that  Christ  will  cberish 
the  least  measure  of  spiritual  sen- 
sibility. This  he  will  continue  to 
do  till  he  send  forth  judgment  unto 
victory ;  till,   by  his  righteous   de- 


21  And  in  his  name  shall 
the  Gentiles  trust. 

22  %  Then  was  brought  unto 
him  one  possessed  with  a  devil, 
blind  and  dumb  :  and  he  healed 
him,  insomuch  that  the  blind 
and  dumb  both  spake  and  saw. 

23  And  all  the  people  were 
amazed,  and  said,  Is  not  this 
the  Son  of  David? 

24  But  when  the  Pharisees 


cision,  he  shall  crown  the  conflict 
in  victory.  A  bruised  re'ed  will  se- 
cure Christ's  attention.  He  who 
insists  that  his  own  spirit  is  the 
source  of  light  will  get  little  light 
from  Christ.  Gentiles  trust — Hope. 
Thus,  again,  does  Matthew  show 
the  largeness  of  his  vision.  In 
what  untold  millions  of  cases  has 
this  prophecy  been  fulfilled !  Here 
is  authority  for  foreign  missions. 
The  victory  of  Christ  is  victory 
without  the  sword. 

?81  U.C.    Autumn,  A..».  28. 

22.  Blind  and  dumb — In  conse- 
quence of  the  possession.  See  note 
on  4 :  24,  third  paragraph.  Inso- 
much— So  that. 

23.  Is  not  this  the  son  of  David? 
— Is  this  the  son  of  David?  was  the 
form  of  the  question  in  the  original 
edition  (1611)  of  King  James'  trans- 
lation, but  in  some  later  editions, 
including  that  of  the  American  Bi- 
ble Society  (1867),  it  appears  Avith 
a  negative.  Do  not  men  gather 
grapes  of  thistles  ?  is  at  once  seen  to 
convey  a  false  impression.  The  neg- 
ative in  the  verse  before  us  is  equal- 
ly out  of  place.  Observe  the  differ- 
ence. Is  not  this,  expresses  posi- 
tive conviction  that  Jesus  is  the  son 
of  David.  Is  this  the  son,  etc.,  ex- 
presses doubt  whether  he  is  or  not, 
which  implies  the  disposition  to  in- 
quire. It  is  hardly  correct,  there- 
fore, to  say  that  "these  fresh  dis- 
plays of  love  surprised  and  melted 


CHAPTER   XII. 


153 


heard  it,  they  said,  This  fellow 
doth  not  cast  out  devils,  but 
by  Beelzebub  the  priuee  of  the 
devils. 

25  And  Jesus  knew  their 
thoughts,  and  said  unto  them, 
Every  kingdom  divided  against 
itself  is  brought' to  desolation  ; 
and  every  city  or  house  divided 
against  itself  shall  not  stand  : 


their  hearts."  As  to  the  meaning 
of  the  words,  son  of  David,  see  note 
on  9  :  27,  last  few  lines. 

24.  Evidently  there  is  a  conspira- 
cy between  the  Pharisees  of  Caper- 
naum and  those  of  Jerusalem ;  for 
scribes,  most  of  whom,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  were  Pharisees,  had 
come  from  the  capital.  Mark  3  :  22. 
This  fellow — This  man.  No  con- 
tempt was  expressed,  whatever  de- 
gree of  it  may  have  been  felt.  Beel- 
zebub— Beelzebul.  See  note  on  10  : 
25.  They  virtually  admit  that  Jesus 
has  wrought  miracles. 

25,  26.  Knew  their  thoughts — Not 
necessarily  because  they  had  spoken 
them.  It  is  more  probable  that  they 
had  spoken  only  to  the  bystanders 
in  an  undertone.  He  shows  the 
absurdity  of  their  charge  in  a  man- 
ner which  at  first  sight  seems  to 
credit  the  kingdom  of  Satan  with 
more  harmony  than  it  is  generally 
supposed  to  have.  But  the  kingdom 
of  evil,  while  in  itself  it  is  dis- 
tinguished for  chaos,  is  a  unit  against 
the  kingdom  of  Christ.  It  is  only 
the  union  of  the  powers  of  darkness 
against  Christ  that  keeps  it  from 
disorganization  and  ruin.  Let  that 
union  cease  and  Satan  fall  to  cast- 
ing out  himself,  and  his  kingdom 
will  be  ruined.  But  it  is  Satan's  ob- 
ject to  preserve  his  kingdom,  and 
therefore  he  will  not  be  guilty  of  the 
suicidal  act  of  casting  out  himself. 
As  Christ  has  begun  the  work  of 
driving  Satan  from  the  world,  it  is 
absurd  to  suppose  him  to  be  doing  it 
with  Satan's  help,  which  their  charge 


26  And  if  Satan  cast  out 
Satan,  he  is  divided  against 
himself;  how  shall  then  his 
kingdom  stand? 

27  And  if  I  by  Beelzebub 
cast  out  devils,  by  whom  do 
your  children  cast  them  out? 
therefore  they  shall  be  your 
judges. 

28  But  if  I  cast  out  devils 

implies.  Every  kingdom — Any 
kingdom. 

Jesus  here  assumes  the  existence 
of  Satan  as  a  distinct  person.  What 
Universalism  denies  (see  Paige's 
Commentary  and  the  writings  of 
Universalists  generally),  Theodore 
Parker  admitted,  but  Parker  held 
that  Jesus  was  mistaken !  Mr. 
Parker's  admission  is  at  once  an  il- 
lustration of  the  candor  which  it  is 
possible  for  full-grown  rationalism 
to  show,  and  of  contempt  for  the  in- 
telligence and  honesty  of  Jesus. 

27.  By  whom  .  .  .  your  children 
— Your  disciples,  who  are  like  you  in 
spirit  and  aims.  It  has  been  held 
that  they  worked  real  miracles.  But, 
(a.)  There  is  nothing  in  the  Bible 
which  proves  that  God  ever  helped 
wicked  men  to  work  miracles  ;  (6.) 
A  thorough  examination  of  Exodus 
7  and  8  will  show  that  the  magicians 
of  Egypt  wrought  only  imitations 
of  miracles,  and  that  at  last  they 
were  unsuccessful  even  in  these. 
See  Bush's  Notes  on  Exodus;  (c.) 
Acts  19  :  13  speaks  of  certain  Jews, 
exorcists,  who  attempted  to  call 
over  them  which  had  evil  spirits 
the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  By 
other  sources  of  information,  it  is 
well  known  that  exorcism  was  much 
practised  by  the  Jews.  "In  the 
schools  of  the  Pharisees  a  so-called 
higher  magic  was  taught,  by  which 
demons  were  to  be  expelled  and 
drawn  out  of  the  noses  of  persons 
possessed,  by  means  of  certain  roots, 
by  exorcism,  and  by  magical  formu- 
las supposed  to  have  been  derived 


154 


MATTHEW. 


by  the  Spirit  of  God,  then  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  come  unto 
you. 

29  Or  else,  how  can  one  en- 
ter into  a  strong  man's  house, 
and  spoil  his  goods,  except  he 
first  bind  the  strong  man  ?  and 
then  he  will  spoil  his  house. 

30  He  that  is  not  with  me  is 
against  me  ;  and  he  that  gath- 


from  King  Solomon.,"  It  was  of 
course  pretended  by  these  disciples 
of  the  Pharisees  that  their  alleged 
expulsion  of  evil  spirits  was  effected 
by  divine  help.  It  was  legitimate 
for  Jesus  to  use  their  pretensions  as 
the  basis  of  his  self-defence.  If  he 
casts  out  devils  by  Beelzebub,  they 
have  no  possible  means  of  proving 
that  it  is  not  by  the  same  sort  of 
help  that  their  disciples  cast  them 
out.  Jesus  makes  no  admission  of 
the  validity  of  their  pretensions. 
Therefore  .  .  .  your  judges — There- 
fore your  own  judges  shall  convict 
you  of  inconsistency  and  partiality. 
The  logic  of  unbelief  limps,  and  the 
spirit  of  unbelief  is  uncandid. 

29.  Jesus  affirms  in  figurative 
language  that  he  is  stronger  than 
Satan.  The  strong  man — Satan. 
The  house — This  world.  His  goods 
— Men  and  all  their  instruments  of 
evil.  Spoil  his  goods — Seize  them. 
Christ  is  stronger.  He  has  come 
into  this  world,  which  is  Satan's 
house,  and  taken  from  him,  already, 
a  great  multitude.  In  this,  Christ 
has  shown  his  power  over  Satan. 
Seizures  will  continue  to  be  made, 
and  at  last  Satan  will  be  completely 
bound  and  cast  into  the  bottomless 
pit.  Rev.  20 :  1-3.  Who  will  then 
pretend  to  doubt  that  Jesus  cast 
out  devils  by  the  Spirit  of  God  ? 

30.  Not  with  me  .  .  against  me 
— A  general  maxim,  teaching  that 
neutrality  is  impossible.  Gathereth 
.  .  .  scattereth,  is  regarded  by  many 
expositors  as  a  mere  repetition  of 
the  former ;  but  perhaps  it  indicates 


e'reth  not  with  me  scattereth 
abroad. 

31  ^f  Wherefore  I  say  unto 
you,  All  manner  of  sin  and 
blasphemy  shall  be  forgiven 
unto  men  :  but  the  blasphemy 
against  the  Holy  Ghost  shall 
not  be  forgiven  unto  men. 

32  And  whosoever  speaketh 
a  word  ag-ainst  the  Son  of  man. 


a  more  active  state.  It  may  be  an 
allusion  to  the  work  of  harvesting. 
There  are  different  degrees  of  guilt, 
but  all  are  on  the  side  of  Satan  who 
are  not  on  the  side  of  Christ.  Phari- 
sees and  Sadducees,  self-righteous 
moralists  and  sceptics,  are  alike  in 
this, — that  they  are  not  with  Christ. 
Acceptance  of  Christianity  as  a  sys- 
tem is  possible  while  one  is  reject- 
ing Christ  himself.  With  me — Christ 
must  be  received  and  loved  as  a  per- 
son. 

31,  32.  The  leading  thought  is, 
that  blasphemy  against  the  Holy 
Spirit  can  never  be  forgiven.  To 
enforce  it  the  more  strongly,  the  sin 
is  contrasted  with  all  other  sin,  and 
even  with  all  other  blasphemy.  It 
is  even  contrasted  with  words  spoken 
against  Jesus  Christ  regarded  as  the 
Son  of  man ;  that  is,  against  Christ 
in  his  humiliation.  What,  then,  is 
the  nature  of  the  sin  ?  The  Phari- 
sees had  charged  him  with  casting 
out  devils  by  Satan.  He  had  af- 
firmed that  he  cast  them  out  by  the 
Spirit  of  God.  The  circumstances, 
therefore,  seem  to  require  us  to  say 
that  the  sin  consisted  in  ascribing  to 
Satan  what  was  done  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  Christ.  If  we  turn  to  Mark 
3 :  30,  we  find  the  evangelist  him- 
self affirming,  Because  they  said, 
He  hath  an  unclean  spirit.  Some 
say  that  the  sin  was  not  so  much  a 
single  act  as  a  state ;  but  it  was  both 
a  state  and  an  act.  The  act  was  the 
utterance  of  the  words,  This  man 
does  not  cast  out  devils  but  by  Be- 
elzebub the  prince  of  devils,  and  the 


CHAPTER  XII. 


155 


it  shall  be  forgiven  him  :  but 
whosoever  speaketh  against  the 
Holy  Ghost,  it  shall  not  be  for- 


utterance  of  the  words  presupposes 
a  blasphemous  state  of  heart. 

This  sin  cannot  be  forgiven.  Why 
not?  It  is  a  great  dilution  of  the 
meaning  to  answer,  Because  those 
who  commit  it  will  not  repent.  This 
is  very  true,  but  in  the  consequen- 
ces with  which  this  sin  is  visited  Ave 
see  retribution.  The  retribution, 
however,  is  not  arbitrary.  It  has 
relation  to  character.  God  does  not 
grant  repentance  to  him  who  com- 
mits it,  and  he  does  not  grant  it  be- 
cause the  sin  is  the  highest  possible 
insult,  since  the  Holy  Spirit,  against 
whom  the  calumny  is  uttered,  is  the 
only  agent  by  whom  God's  love  in 
the  atonement  can  be  made  efficient 
in  conversion  and  final  salvation. 
Jesus  teaches,  in  vs.  32,  that  it  is  a 
great  sin  to  speak  a  word  against 
the  Son  of  man,  but  that  is  a  sin 
for  the  forgiveness  of  which  God's 
grace  has  made  provision.  Blas- 
phemy, in  its  most  general  mean- 
ing, is  evil  speaking,  then  evil  speak- 
ing of  tilings  sacred.  Holy  Ghost — 
The  third  in  the  Trinity.  He  is  not 
to  be  regarded  as  merely  the  spirit 
of  the  Father.  This  was  the  view 
of  Sabellius  in  the  third  century, 
and  is  held,  substantially,  by  some 
small  but  well-known  sects  of  the 
present  day.  He  is  not  indeed  so 
separate  from  the  Father  as  to  be 
another  and  entirely  independent 
God,  but  he  is  so  separate  as  to  have 
his  own  distinct  personality.  He  is 
mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament, 
but,  in  accordance  with  the  progres- 
sive nature  of  revelation,  less  clear- 
ly than  in  the  New.  The  Holy 
Spirit  is  God,  for  the  atti'ibutes  of 
God  are  ascribed  to  him.  He  is  rep- 
resented in  the  Scriptures  as  know- 
ing, loving,  choosing,  interceding, 
which  shows  that  he  is  not  a  mere 
influence  of  the  Father. 

This  world  .  .  .  the  world  to 
come — These  phrases  were  used  by 


given  him,  neither  in  this  world, 
neither  in  the  world  to  come. 
33     Either    make    the   tree 

the  primitive  Christian  writers  to 
designate  this  world  and  the  world 
that  conies  after  death.  The  mere 
statement,  It  shall  not  be  forgiven 
him,  would  have  been  sufficient  to 
show  that  the  future  life  was  in- 
cluded ;  but  Jesus  gives  strength  to 
the  declaration  by  the  additional 
words.  Mark  reports  our  Lord  as  say- 
ing, Hath  never  forgiveness,  butisin 
danger  of  eternal  damnation.  Uni- 
versalist  commentators  deny  that 
there  is  reference  to  the  future 
world  ;  but  the  denial  avails  nothing 
against  such  unequivocal  language, 
and  against  the  fact  that  the  Jewish 
schools  taught  that  the  sin  of  blas- 
pheming the  name  of  God  could  be 
washed  away  by  death.  It  was 
doubtless  against  this  tradition  that 
our  Lord  uttered  the  words,  neither 
in  the  world  to  come.  These  words 
are  used  by  Komanists  in  support 
of  their  doctrine  of  purgatory,  but 
they  give  no  support  to  the  opinion 
that  any  sin  will  be  forgiven  in  the 
next  world.  If  they  do  not  express 
the  eternity  of  future  punishment, 
the  Greek  language  Avas  incapable 
of  expressing  it,  and  of  course 
equally  incapable  of  expressing 
the  eternity  of  future  bliss.  Wheth- 
er these  men  had  committed  the 
sin  in  question  or  not,  they  were 
clearly  on  the  very  margin,  to 
say  the  least,  of  that  terrible 
state  against  which  Jesus  warned 
them. 

The  distress  of  tender  consciences 
lest  the  sin  against  the  Holy  Spirit 
has  been  committed  is  quite  useless. 
Committal  of  the  sin  and  fear  lest 
the  sin  has  been  committed  are  never 
found  together.  He  that  has  com- 
mitted it  is  insensible  and  calumni- 
ous. Grieving  the  Spirit  and  resisting 
the  Spirit  arc  heinous  sins  ;  but  God 
has  made  provision  by  which  they 
can  be  forgiven.  Blaspheming  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  a  different  sin. 


156 


MATTHEW. 


good,  and  his  fruit  good  ;  or 
else  make  the  tree  corrupt,  and 
his  fruit  corrupt :  for  the  tree 
is  known  by  Jiis  fruit. 

34  O  generation  of  vipers, 
how  can  ye,  being  evil,  speak 
good  things?  for  out  of  the 
abundance  of  the  heart  the 
mouth  speaketh. 

35  A  good  man  out  of  the 


33.  The  meaning  of  this  verse  is 
thus  expressed  by  Dr.  John  J. 
Owen :  "  If  I  do  good,  consider  me 
as  good,  and  act  consistently.  .  .  . 
The  character  of  a  man  is  de- 
termined by  his  actions.  The 
Pharisees  could  be  at  no  loss  in 
respect  to  our  Lord's  true  charac- 
ter, inasmuch  as  his  life  and  the 
tendency  of  his  doctrines  were 
good.  They  had  no  excuse,  there- 
fore, for  their  malicious  charge  of 
his  collusion  with  Satan."  Christ's 
life,  outward  and  inward,  was  good; 
therefore  his  nature  was  good. 
Man's  life  is  bad ;  therefore  his  na- 
ture is  bad. 

34,  35.  Generation  of  vipers  — 
Brood  of  serpents.  See  note  on 
Matt.  3 :  7,  last  paragraph.  What 
intensity  of  wickedness  Jesus  must 
have  seen  in  their  hearts !  for,  ob- 
serve that, though  infinite  in  tender- 
ness, he  calls  them  what  the  austere 
John  had  called  those  Pharisees  that 
came  to  be  baptized.  How  cany  e — 
Not  physically,  but  morally  impossi- 
ble— as  impossible  for  them  to  speak 
good  things,  as  for  a  serpent  to 
send  forth  healing  instead  of  poison. 
"The  term  generation  of  vipers 
indicates  that  depravity  is  born. 
As  the  viper's  nature  is  derived  by 
propagation  from  its  original  par- 
ents, so  man's  moral  nature  is 
derived  from  his  progenitors." — Dr. 
Whedon.  Yet  Jesus  would  not 
have  called  Nicodemus,  though  a 
Pharisee,  and  ignorant  of  the  na- 
ture of  the  new  birth,  nor  the  im- 
penitent young  man  of  whom  Mark 


good  treasure  of  the  heart 
bringeth  forth  good  things  :  and 
an  evil  man  out  of  the  evil 
treasure  bringeth  forth  evil 
things. 

36  But  I  say  unto  you,  That 
every  idle  word  that  men  shall 
speak,  they  shall  give  account 
thereof  in  the  day  of  judgment. 

37  For  by  thy  words  thou 


(10 :  21)  speaks,  one  of  a  brood  of 
vipers.  The  phrase,  therefore,  in- 
dicates  not  mere  depravity,  but  an 
intense  degree  of  it.  Abundance  of 
the  heart  —  Overflowing  of  the 
heart.  It  is  a  general  proposition, 
as  applicable  to  a  good  man  as  to  a 
bad  man,  but  here  applied  to  the 
Pharisees.  Their  hearts  overflowed 
with  evil;  of  course  they  spoke 
evil.  A  good  man's  heart  over- 
flows with  good  ;  therefore  he 
speaks  good  things.  The  thought 
is  expressed  in  vs.  35,  under  the 
simple  figure  of  a  treasure.  A  good 
man  .  .  .  bringeth  forth — The  good 
man  sends  forth.  The  good  man's 
heart  being  a  treasure  which  grace 
has  filled  with  pure  thoughts,  de- 
vout affections,  holy  desires,  sends 
forth  good  words.  Such  a  man 
cannot  speak  such  words  as  you 
Pharisees  have  just  applied  to  me, 
nor  be  guilty  of  such  deeds  as  you 
are  doing  in  plotting  my  death.  The 
evil  man's  heart  being  a  treasure  of 
unsound  reasonings  relative  to  sa- 
cred things,  and  of  corrupt  de- 
sires, base  motives,  it  sends  forth 
evil  things. 

30,  37.  Idle  word  —  A  word, 
which,  like  an  idle  man,  does  no 
good.  There  is  no  necessity  for 
saying,  as  many  do,  that  the  con- 
text requires  us  to  understand  the 
word  in  a  stronger  sense.  The 
Saviour  takes  the  occasion  to  af- 
firm that  even  for  a  useless  word, 
we  must  give  account  at  the  day 
of  judgment.  Account  thereof-^ 
Of  it  in  all  its  wide-spread  rela- 


CHAPTER  XII. 


157 


fthalt  be  justified,  and  by  thy 
words  sbalt  thou  be  con- 
demned. 

38    %  Then   certain   of  the 
scribes  and  of  the  Pharisees 


tions.  A  useless  word  is  wrong  in 
itself,  but  the  measure  of  its  sinful- 
ness cannot  be  estimated  exclusive- 
ly in  that  way.  A  useless  word  is  a 
sign  of  a  useless  thought,  and  many 
useless  words  are  signs  of  many 
useless  thoughts  ;  that  is,  of  a  heart 
which  needs  cleansing.  The  effect 
of  a  useless  word  upon  other  per- 
sons will  be  taken  into  account. 
Useless  words,  then,  cannot  be 
otherwise  than  hurtful,  and  though 
the  wrongfulness  of  them  is  so 
much  less  than  that  of  blasphemy, 
yet,  since  they  are  indications  of  the 
state  of  the  heart,  we  shall  by  them 
be  justified  or  condemned.  It  would 
be  a  perversion  of  these  general 
sayings  of  our  Lord,  to  affirm  that 
our  words  are  to  be  the  only  stan- 
dard by  which  we  are  to  be  either 
condemned  or  justified.  Matt.  25: 
35-46  teaches  us  that  deeds  will  be 
taken  into  the  estimate ;  and  Ro- 
mans 2  :  16  shows  that  the  thoughts 
will  also  be  weighed. 

Justified — Be  declared  just.  The 
New  Testament  reveals  four  meth- 
ods of  justification  :  (a.)  By  grace 
(Rom.  3  :  24)  ;  (b.)  By  the  death  of 
Christ  (Rom.  5:9);  (c.)  By  faith 
(Rom.  5  :  1)  ;  (d.)  By  works  (James 
2  :  24.)  But  these  methods  are  not 
equally  efficient.  They  are  not 
co-ordinate.  They  do  not  hold 
precisely  the  same  relation  to  the 
person  justified.  In  other  words, 
works  must  not  be  exalted  to  the 
level  of  faith ;  faith  must  not  be 
exalted  to  a  level  with  Christ's  suf- 
ferings or  God's  grace.  Without 
grace,  the  atonement,  and  faith, 
we  strike  upon  the  hidden  sands 
of  Arminianism ;  without  works, 
against  the  rocks  of  Antinomian- 
ism.  Oh!  what  efficiency,  har- 
14 


answered,  saying,  Master,  we 
would  see  a  sign  from  thee. 

39  But  he  answered  and  said 
unto  them,  An  evil  and  adul- 
terous generation  seeketh  after 


mony  and  glory  in  God's  method 
of  saving  men!  Grace — forfeited 
love  —  provides  the  atonement, 
awakens  faith,  constrains  to  good 
works.  If  we  are  justified  by  our 
works  (which  includes  our  words), 
it  is  not  in  consequence  of  any 
merit  in  ourselves. 

38.  Master  —  Teacher;  spoken, 
perhaps,  in  derision  of  his  preten- 
sions. A  sign  from  thee — As  Luke 
(11 :  16)  says,  A  sign  from  heaven. 
We  have,  by  combining  the  two, 
A  sign  which  you  may  bring  from 
heaven,  in  distinction  from  these 
miracles  which  you  bring  rather 
from  the  earth.  Christ  himself  was 
the  great  sign  from  heaven.  They 
could  not  see  him  as  such;  how, 
then,  could  they  see  him  as  a  sign 
from  ' '  the  deep  realm  of  death  "  ? 
vs.  40. 

39.  Adulterous — Some  say,  both 
literally  and  spiritually,  and  in 
proof  of  the  former  refer  to  5  :  31, 
32.  The  old  prophets  often  repre- 
sented the  relation  which  Israel 
sustained  to  God  under  the  figure 
of  marriage,  God  the  husband  and 
Israel  the  wife.  Relapse  into  idol- 
atry or  other  gross  sins  was,  there- 
fore, called  adultery.  The  present 
state  of  the  nation  was  one  of  great 
departure  from  the  true  ideal  of 
fidelity  to  God,  which  is  enough  of 
itself  to  account  for  our  Lord's  use 
of  the  term  adulterous.  Seeketh 
after  a  sign — Not  denying  that  Je- 
sus wrought  miracles,  but  rejecting 
them  as  evidence  of  the  divinity 
of  his  mission.  He  affirms,  not 
that  no  sign  shall  be  given,  but  no 
such  sign  as  they  demand.  A  sign 
shall  be  given,  which  he  calls  the 
sign  of  the  prophet  Jonas  (Jonah), 
"that  is,  the  sign  which  had  typi- 


158 


MATTHEW. 


a  sign  ;  and  there  shall  no  sign 
be  given  to  it,  but  the  sign  of 
I  he  prophet  Jonas  : 
40   For  as  Jonas  was  three 


cally  appeared  in  the  history  of 
Jonah,  2  :  1."  Jonah  was  one  of  the 
prophets  of  Israel ;  some  say,  the 
first.  His  father's  name  was  Amit- 
tai.  His  own  name  means  dove. 
1 '  Jonah  was  probably  born  about 
850  B.C.  ...  He  was  a  child 
when  Homer  was  an  old  blind  bard, 
singing  his  rhapsodies  on  the  eastern 
shores  of  the  Mediterranean." 

40.  The  story  of  Jonah  is  here 
so  unequivocally  sanctioned  by  our 
Lord  as  historical,  that  the  wit  which 
has  been  expended  upon  it  has  been 
most  justly  called  "profane."  The 
theory  that  "the  'fish'  was  no  ani- 
mal at  all,  but  a  ship  with  the  fig- 
ure of  a  fish  painted  on  the  stern, 
into  which  Jonah  was  received 
after  he  had  been  cast  out  of  his 
own  vessel!" — "that  just  as  the 
prophet  was  thrown  into  the  water, 
the  dead  carcass  of  some  large  fish 
floated  by,  into  the  belly  of  which 
he  contrived  to  get,  and  that  thus 
he  was  drifted  to  the  shore,"  would 
not  be  made  much  more  absurd  by 
supposing  further  that  Jonah  was 
no  man  at  all,  but  only  the  offal 
which  the  sailors  threw  over  about 
the  time  the  storm  subsided.  The 
event  was  either  historical,  or  it  was 
not.  If  it  was,  Christ  spoke  pre- 
cisely as  we  should  expect  him  to 
speak.  If  it  was  not,  he  spoke  in 
a  manner  which  no  honest  teacher 
would  have  employed.  Therefore, 
if  we  reject  the  account  as  histori- 
cal, the  gravest  doubts  are  throAvn 
over  the  moral  character  of  Jesus, 
which  is  the  result  to  which  all 
rationalism  tends. 

In  the  whale's  belly — If  the  above 
view  is  correct,  it  matters  very  lit- 
tle whether  the  animal  was  a  whale, 
or  a  shark,  or  some  other  large  fish. 
Excessive  attempt  to  explain  the  de- 
tails in  the  record  of  a  miracle  may 


days  and  three  nights  in  the 
whale's  belly  ;  so  shall  the  Son 
of  man  be  three  days  and  three 
nights  in  the  heart  of  the  earth. 


lead  to  scepticism ;  yet  within  the 
limits  which  sincere  reverence  for 
the  word  of  God  will  observe,  some 
attempt  is  allowable.  Dr.  Thomson 
insists  that  we  should  believe  the 
fish  to  have  been  a  whale,  regarding 
the  absence  of  whales  in  the  Medi- 
terranean at  the  present  day  as  cre- 
ating no  difficulty,  since  "  the  multi- 
plication of  ships  in  this  sea,  after  the 
time  of  Jonah,  frightened  them  out  of 
it,  as  other  causes  have  driven  all  li- 
ons out  of  Palestine,  where  they  were 
once  numerous.  .  .  .  Our  Lord 
calls  it  a  whale,  and  I  am  contented 
with  his  translation;  and  whale  it 
was,  not  a  shark."  Our  Lord  does 
not  call  it  a  whale  :  King  James' 
translators  do.  The  Greek  word 
may  mean  any  large  fish.  "The 
Mediterranean  formerly  abounded 
in  a  species  of  carcharias,  or  dog- 
fish, specimens  of  which  are  still 
found  there,  though  in  less  num- 
bers. ...  Its  throat  and  maw  are 
sufficiently  capacious  to  lodge,  with- 
out crowding,  a  man  of  the  largest 
size."  Dr.  Baird,  of  the  British 
Museum,  says  that  in  the  Biver 
Hooghly,  below  Calcutta,  he  had 
seen  a  white  shark  swallow  a  bul- 
lock's head  and  horns  entire.  ' '  Cer- 
tainly the  preservation  of  Jonah  in 
a  fish's  belly  is  not  more  remarka- 
ble than  that  of  the  three  children 
in  the  midst  of  Nebuchadnezzar's 
'burning,  fiery  furnace.'" 

So  shall  the  Son  of  man,  etc. — 
The  burial  and  resurrection  of  our 
Lord  is  the  sign  which  was  to  be 
given  to  that  generation  and  to  all 
the  following  generations.  The  fact 
of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  was 
wielded  by  the  apostles  with  great 
power.  It  was  their  chief  reliance 
as  an  argument  in  support  of  the 
Messiahship  of  Jesus.  In  the  heart 
of  the  earth — Not,  as   some  have 


CHAPTER  XII. 


159 


41  The  men  of  Nine veh  shall 
rise  in  judgment  with  this  gen- 
eration, and  shall  condemn  it : 
because  they  repented  at  the 
preaching  of  Jonas ;  and,  be- 


said,  in  Hades,  but  in  the  earth,  that 
is,  buried.  To  deny  this  as  the 
meaning  because  the  body  of  Jesus 
was  put  into  a  rock  instead  of  the 
ground,  or  because  it  was  not  put 
very  deep  in  the  earth,  is  the  merest 
trifling.  Three  days  and  three 
nights — Jesus  was  entombed  on 
Friday  afternoon,  and,  as  he  rose 
on  Sabbath  morning,  he  lay  in  the 
tomb,  according  to  our  manner  of 
reckoning,  much  less  than  three 
days  and  three  nights  ;  but  the  Jew- 
ish method  of  expressing  such  a  fact 
was  different.  They  reckoned  a  part 
of  a  day,  if  only  an  hour,  as  a  whole 
day,  and  a  part  of  a  night  as  a  whole 
night.  Jesus  rose  on  the  third  day. 
How  clear  to  us,  though  obscure  to 
them,  this  reference  to  his  death ! 
Ministers  of  the  present  times  and 
Sabbath-school  teachers  should  give 
more  prominence  to  the  fact  of  the 
resurrection  of  Jesus.  It  is  still  an 
argument  of  wonderful  power. 

41.  He  contrasts  their  conduct, 
that  is,  chiefly,  that  of  the  scribes 
and  Pharisees,  under  his  preaching, 
with  that  of  the  people  of  Nineveh 
under  the  preaching  of  Jonah.  Nine- 
veh— "  It  is  now,"  says  Mr.  Barnes, 
in  the  "revised  and  corrected"  edi- 
tion of  his  Notes  on  the  Gospels, 
1842,  "so  completely  destroyed  that 
geographers  are  unable  to  ascertain 
whether  it  was  on  the  eastern  or 
western  bank.  .  .  .  The  very  situa- 
tion is  unknown.  If  it  seem  strange 
that  ancient  cities  are  so  completely 
destroyed  that  no  remains  of  brick 
or  stone  are  to  be  found,  it  should 
be  remembered  that  they  were  built 
of  clay,  dried  only  in  the  sun,  and  not 
burned."  Since  these  words  were 
penned,  Nineveh  has  been  laid  open 
to  the  eyes  of  men.  The  enormous 
arid  shapeless  mounds  that  lie  along 


hold,  a  greater  than  Jonas 


is 


here. 

42  The  queen  of  the  south 
shall  rise  up  in  the  judgment 
with  this  generation,  and  shall 

the  banks  of  the  Tigris,  and  extend 
eastward  several  miles,  have  opened 
their  rich  treasures  of  knowledge ; 
"  and  some  of  them  must  mark  the 
ruins  of  the  Assyrian  capital." 
Through  the  eyes  of  Layard  and 
others,  the  world  has  been  permit- 
ted to  look  upon  palaces,  gateways, 
chambers,  and  halls,  drinking-ves- 
sels,  vases,  parts  of  a  throne,  co- 
lossal representations  of  kings,  slabs 
inscribed  with  biblical  names,  as  Je- 
hu, Hezekiah,  and  Sennacherib,  all 
traceable  to  a  period  many  hundred 
years  before  Christ. 

The  time  of  Jonah's  visit  to  Nine- 
veh is  put  by  Layard  at  750  B.C.,  but 
some  place  it  B.C.  840.  The  destruc- 
tion of  the  city  is  believed  to  have 
occurred  B.C.  GOG,  possibly  twenty 
years  earlier.  It  would  have  been 
destroyed  before  had  not  the  king 
and  people  reformed  in  some  de- 
gree their  life  at  the  preaching  of 
the  Jewish  prophet.  Jesus  contrasts 
with  their  repentance  the  unbelief 
of  the  Jews,  and  affirms  that  the 
men  of  Nineveh  will  condemn  (by 
their  example)  this  generation  for 
their  impenitence  under  the  preach- 
ing of  one  who  is  greater  than  Jo- 
nah. Jesus,  dear  reader,  is  still 
preaching, — preaching  to  you,  and 
more  fully  and  solemnly  than  he 
preached  to  the  Pharisees. 

42.  Our  Lord  draws  another  il- 
lustration from  the  heathen  world, 
for  the  purpose  of  rebuking  the  im- 
penitent Pharisees.  The  queen — A 
queen,  referring  not  so  much  to  her 
as  an  individual  as  to  her  charac- 
ter. She  was  of  the  heathen  world. 
The  south — Sheba,  a  kingdom  .n 
the  southern  part  of  Arabia ;  not 
Seba,  a  kingdom  of  Ethiopia.  Ara- 
bian Avriters  refer  to  her  under  the 
name  of  Bilkees,  but  no  reliance 


160 


MATTHEW. 


condemn  it :  for  she  came  from 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth 
to  hear  the  wisdom  of  Solomon  ; 

can  be  put  upon  their  statements. 
Nor  can  any  reliance  be  placed  up- 
on the  traditions  of  the  Abyssinians, 
who  give  her  the  name  of  Maqueda. 
Rise  up   in  the    judgment — "  Not 


and,  behold,  a  greater  than 
Solomon  is  here. 

43  When  the  unclean  spirit 

rise  from  the  dead  at  the  day  of 
judgment,  but  stand  at  the  bar  to 
be  tried." — Alexander. 

Solomon — Concerning  the  '''■glo- 
ry "  of  this  monarch  see  note  on  6 : 


Nineveh. 


20.  Excepting  perhaps  the  first  few 
years  of  his  life,  Solomon  was  one 
of  those  men  in  whom  the  moral  is 
less  amply  developed  than  the  in- 
tellectual, and  the  intellectual  much 
marred  by  the  sensual.  Whether 
his  apostasy  was  sincerely  confessed, 
we  could  more  certainly  tell  if  ho 
had  left  any  expression  of  penitence 
approaching  that  which  his  own 
father  made  in  the  fifty-first  Psalm. 
Whether  he  "fell  from  grace"  is 
not  at  all  the  question.  Did  he  have 
any  grace?  is  the  point.      On  the 


whole  the  question  may  as  well, 
perhaps,  be  left  unanswered.  TJie 
wisdom,  etc. — Respecting  this  there 
can  be  but- one  opinion;  and  it  is 
because  a  heathen  queen  went  from 
her  very  distant  country,  here  called 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth,  to 
hear  it,  that  she,  too,  at  the  day  of 
judgment,  will  condemn  by  her  ex- 
ample those  of  the  Jews  who  re- 
jected Christ.  A  greater  than  Solo- 
mon— Greater  in  origin,  authority, 
wisdom,  and  goodness.  "On  the 
lowest  view  which  serious  thinkers 


CHAPTER  XIT. 


161 


is  gone  out  of  a  man,  he  walk- 
eth  through  dry  places,  seeking 
rest,  and  findeth  none. 

44  Then  he  saith,  I  will 
return  into  my  house  from 
whence  I  came  out ;  and  when 
he  is  come,  he  findeth  it  empty, 
swept,  and  garnished. 

45  Then  goeth  he,  and  tak- 
eth  with  himself  seven  other 
spirits  more  wicked  than  him- 


have  ever  taken  of  the  life  of  Jesus 
of  Nazareth,  they  have  owned  that 
there  was  in  him  '  one  greater  than 
Solomon.'" 

43-45.  Jesus  here  exposes  the 
fearful  moral  state  to  which  the  peo- 
ple of  Israel  are  coming.  Not  all 
the  details  are  easy  to  he  under- 
stood; the  outline  is  plain.  The 
clue  is  in  the  closing  sentence : 
Even  so  shall  it  he  with  this  genera- 
tion. What  shall  be?  This  gen- 
eration shall  be  worse  at  last  than  it 
is  now.  This  is  expressed  in  the 
form  of  a  similitude.  He  makes 
use  of  a  fact  which,  judging  from 
the  similitude  itself,  must  have 
sometimes  occurred;  namely,  the 
return  of  a  devil  to  him  out  of  whom 
it  had  been  cast.  Walketh  through 
dry  places — Goes  through  deserts, 
which,  in  consequence  of  their  deso- 
lateness,  it  was  natural  to  regard -as 
the  resort  of  evil  spirits.  Seeking 
rest — The  words  indicate  merely 
the  restlessness  of  an  evil  spirit  that 
has  been  cast  out  of  a  man.  Will  re- 
turn into  my  house — He  resolves  to 
repossess  the  man.  Garnished — 
Set  in  order.  Empty,  swept,  and 
garnished — It  is  a  mistake  to  sup- 
pose that  each  of  these  three  words 
has  a  distinct  meaning.  They  should 
be  grouped  together,  and  be  held  as 
meaning  merely,  all  ready  for  him. 
Seven  other  spirits — A  definite  for  an 
indefinite  number.  More  wicked — 
Then  there  are  degrees  of  depravity 
in  devils  as  well  as  in  men.  Worse 
than  the  first — He  is  more  thorough- 
14* 


self,  and  they  enter  in  and 
dwell  there  :  and  the  last  state 
of  that  man  is  worse  than  the 
first.  Even  so  shall  it  be  also 
unto  this  wicked  generation. 

46  f  While  he  yet  talked  to 
the  people,  behold,  his  mother 
and  his  brethren  stood  without, 
desiring  to  speak  with  him. 

47  Then  one  said  unto  him, 
Behold,   thy  mother   and   thy 

ly  possessed,  and,  by  implication, 
beyond  recovery.  Such  are  the 
facts  by  which  our  Lord  expressed 
the  fearfulness  of  the  moral  state 
into  which  the  Pharisees  in  particu- 
lar, and  the  Jews  generally,  soon 
came.  The  demon  of  idolatry — so 
some  explain  it — had  been  cast  out 
by  the  sufferings  through  which  the 
Jews  had  passed  centuries  before  in 
the  Babylonian  captivity.  That  left 
the  house  empty.  Real  righteous- 
ness, however,  did  not  enter.  See 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  for  proof. 
The  people  had  only  the  appearance 
of  devotion  to  the  service  of  God. 
Their  state  was  therefore  "  inviting 
to  the  unclean  spirit."  They  re- 
jected, and  continued  to  reject,  God's 
remedy  for  sin.  Under  the  intensi- 
fied spirit  of  evil  they  grew  worse 
and  worse,  till  their  state  was  more 
deplorable  than  ever,  even  crucify- 
ing the  Son  of  God  himself. 

46.  His  brethren — Brothers, which 
is  the  more  proper  term  for  the  ex- 
pression of  natural  relationship. 
Whether  they  were  real  brothers,  or 
cousins,  will  be  considered  in  the 
note  on  13  :  55.  Stood  —  Were 
standing,  not  for  a  moment  merely, 
for  Luke  (8  :  19)  says,  They  could 
not  come  at  him  for  the  press.  They 
were  waiting  outside  the  crowd. 
He  was  in  the  house,  and  probably 
in  Capernaum.  Desiring  —  Seek- 
ing.    The  former  is  too  weak. 

47.  One  said  unto  him — They 
sent  in  a  messenger;  or  perhaps  the 
fact  of  their  attempting  to   speak 


162 


MATTHEW. 


brethren  stand  without,  desir- 
ing to  speak  with  thee. 

48  But  he  answered  and  said 
unto  him  that  told  him,  Who  is 
my  mother?  and  who  are  my 
brethren  ? 

49  And  he  stretched  forth 
his  hand  toward  his  disciples, 
and  said,  Behold  my  mother 
and  my  brethren ! 

50  For  whosoever  shall  do 


with  him  was  passed  along  through 
the  crowd,  till  those  who  were 
nearest  him  (Mark  3  :  32)  told  him. 
Why  did  they  desire  to  speak  with 
him?  Mark  says  (3:  21),  And 
when  his  friends  heard  of  it,  they 
went  out  to  lay  hold  on  him,  for 
they  said,  He  is  beside  himself.  The 
multitude  pressed  upon  him  for  so 
long  a  period  that  he  had  no  time  to 
eat.  His  mother  and  brothers  were 
either  fearful  lest  his  abstinence 
and  labors  should  be  injurious  to  his 
health,  or  lest  the  animosity  of  the 
Pharisees  should  result  in  his  ar- 
rest. 

48.  Who  is  my  mother?  etc. — 
These  questions  were  doubtless  in- 
tended as  a  reproof.  Jesus  knew 
better  than  they  how  long  to  speak 
to  the  people.  It  is  not  the  only 
time  that  he  reproved  his  mother, 
though  he  always  did  so  with  great 
gentleness  and  respect.  See  Luke 
2 :  48,  49 ;  John  2  :  4.  What  be- 
comes of  the  Roman  Catholic  doc- 
trine of  "Immaculate  Conception"? 
and  what  shall  be  said  of  the  idola- 
try that  prevails  among  Romanists 
veiled  by  the  thin  disguise  of  "  ven- 
eration and  invocation  "  ?  The  fol- 
lowing is  taken  from  a  Roman 
Catholic  "Manual  of  Devotion": 
"  O  holy  and  glorious  Virgin  Mary, 
I  commit  my  soul  and  body  to  thy 
blessed  trust  this  night,  and  for- 
ever, especially  in  the  hour  of  my 
death ; "  and  the  following  also  : 
"I  confess  to  Almighty  God,  to 
blessed    Mary,  .    .    .   that  I   have 


the  will  of  my  Father  which  is 
in  heaven,  the  same  is  my 
brother,  and  sister,  and  mother. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE   same   day  went  Jesus 
out  of  the  house,  and  sat 
by  the  sea  side. 

2  And  great  multitudes  were 
gathered  together  unto  him,  so 


sinned  exceedingly,  in  thought, 
word,  and  deed." 

•  49,  50.  Spiritual  relationship 
superior  to  natural  is  the  sentiment 
here  expressed.  The  affection  which 
Jesus  bore  to  Mary  as  his  mother 
was  sincere  and  deep  (John  19  :  26, 
27),  but  the  love  which  he  had  be- 
cause she  did  the  will  of  his  Father 
was  greater.  Natural  ties  are  char- 
acteristic of  only  this  life.  They  are 
from  necessity  limited.  They  may 
exist  without  the  hallowing  influence 
of  the  spiritual.  "  Spiritualism," 
in  the  present  perverted  sense  of 
that  word,  has  shown  itself  in  many 
of  its  chief  adherents  as  disgust- 
ingly indifferent  to  the  most  sa- 
cred of  earthly  ties.  Jesus  taught 
just  views  of  the  relation  of  the 
earthly  to  the  spiritual.  How  sweet 
the  ties  between  Jesus  Christ  and 
those  who  do  the  will  of  God! 
How  great,  therefore,  should  be  the 
love  of  these  toward  one  another! 
The  silence  of  Jesus  relative  to  a 
father  harmonizes  with  the  report 
of  the  evangelists  that  he  had  none. 
When  the  demands  of  earthly  friends 
come  in  comparison  with  God's 
claims,  they  should  be  disregarded. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

JESUS  ILLUSTRATES  THE  FOUNDING 
AND  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  HIS 
KINGDOM    IN    SEVEN  PARABLES. 

T81  IT.O.    Autumn,  A--D.  88. 

1,   2.    The  same  day — Probably 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


163 


that  he  went  into  a  ship,  and 
sat ;  and  the  whole  multitude 
stood  on  the  shore. 

3  And  he  spake  many  things 


the  same  day  on  which  the  closing 
incident  of  the  last  chapter  oc- 
curred. The  shore  —  The  beach. 
"  Along  the  edge  of  this  secluded 
basin"  (the  sea  Galilee),  says  Stan- 
ley, "runs  the  whole  way  round 
from  north  to  south  a  level  beach. 
.  .  .  On  this  beach,  which  can  be 
discerned  running  like  a  white  line 
all  round  the  lake,"  etc. 

3.  Spake  .  .  .  in  parables  —  A 
fable  is  a  species  of  composition 
which  represents  a  brute  creature 
as  talking  and  acting  like  a  man, 
and  that  not  in  things  moral,  but  in 
things  pertaining  to  common  pru- 
dence. A  myth  is  a  composition 
representing  the  actions  of  the  dei- 
ties of  heathen.  A  proverb  is 
thought  condensed  in  a  very  brief 
form,  and  expressing,  either  in  sim- 
ple or  figurative  language,  some 
moral  or  prudential  sentiment.  An 
allegory  is  a  representation  of  one 
person  or  thing,  by  another  person 
or  thing,  so  complete  that  the  two 
seem  to  be  alike,  yet  one  is  literal, 
and  the  other  moral  or  spiritual, 
the  latter  being  the  real  meaning  of 
the  former.  '  'Pilgrim's  Progress,"  by 
John  Bunyan,  is  an  allegory.  For 
an  example  of  proverbs,  see  those 
written  by  Solomon.  Myths  may 
be  found  in  Classical  Dictionaries, 
having  been  collected  from  ancient 
Greek  and  Latin  profane  authors. 
For  specimens  of  fables,  see  those 
of  iEsop.  The  parable  is  differ- 
ent from  them  all.  It  expresses 
spiritual  truth  without  that  viola- 
tion of  the  laws  of  nature  which  is 
a  characteristic  of  the  fable,  and  it 
expresses  it  in  such  a  way  as  to 
compel  comparison  of  one  thing 
with  another ;  as,  for  example,  of 
the  preacher  with  the  sower,  or  the 
truth  with  the  seed.  It  is  an  in- 
teresting fact  that  our  Lord  never 


unto  them  in  parables,  saying, 
Behold,  a  sower  went  forth  to 
sow; 

4  And  when  he  sowed,  some 

employed  the  fable  for  conveying 
instruction.  That  form  would  not 
have  been  in  harmony  with  the 
dignity  of  his  character. 

It  has  been  inquired  whether 
these  seven  parables  were  uttered 
on  different  occasions,  and  were 
grouped  in  their  existing  order  by 
Matthew.  It  is  more  probable  that 
they  were  spoken  on  the  same  oc- 
casion. It  has  also  been  questioned 
whether  he  had  employed  this  meth- 
od of  teaching  before.  It  is  certain 
that  he  had  employed  it  very  little, 
if  at  all.  His  method  had  been 
more  like  that  of  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount.  He  never  wholly  dis- 
pensed with  it,  but  from  the  time  at 
which  the  present  chapter  opens, 
the  parabolic  method  was  that 
which  he  chiefly  employed.  Why, 
will  soon  appear.  The  parables 
which  are  now  to  be  examined  are 
intended  to  teach  the  development 
of  his  kingdom  from  its  beginning 
to  its  completion  at  the  Dav  of 
Judgment. 

The  Sower. 

A  sower — The  beach  on  which 
the  crowds  stood  is  the  eastern 
boundary  of  the  beautiful  plain  of 
Gennesareth.  Mr.  Stanley,  when 
visiting  the  spot,  felt  that  he  saw 
disclosed  every  feature  of  the  great 
parable.  "There  was  the  undulat- 
ing cornfield  descending  to  the  wa- 
ter's edge.  There  was  the  trodden 
pathway  running  through  the  midst 
of  it,  with  no  fence  or  hedge  to  pre- 
vent the  seed  from  falling  here  and 
there  on  either  side  of  it,  or  upon 
it;  itself  hard  with  the  constant 
tramp  of  horse,  and  mule,  and  hu- 
man feet.  There  was  the  '  good,' 
rich  soil,  which  distinguishes  the 
whole  of  that  plain  and  its  neighbor- 


164 


MATTHEW. 


seeds  fell  by  the  way  side,  and 
the  fowls  came  and  devoured 
them  up : 

5  Some  fell  upon  stony  pla- 
ces, where  they  had  not  much 
earth :  and  forthwith  they 
sprung  up,  because  they  had 
no  deepness  of  earth  : 

6  And  when  the  sun  was  up, 
they  were  scorched;  and  be- 
cause they  had  no  root,  they 
withered  away. 


hood  from  the  bare  hills  elsewhere 
descending  into  the  lake,  and  which, 
where  there  is  no  interruption,  pro- 
duces one  vast  mass  of  corn.  There 
was  the  rocky  ground  of  the  hill- 
side protruding  here  and  there 
through  the  cornfields,  as  else- 
where through  the  grassy  slopes. 
There  were  the  large  bushes  of 
thorn, — the  '  Nabk,'  that  kind  of 
which  tradition  says  that  the  crown 
of  thorns  was  woven, — springing  up, 
like  the  fruit-trees  of  the  more  in- 
land parts,  in  the  very  midst  of  the 
waving  wheat."  Went  forth — From 
his  house,  from  the  village. 

4.  Fell  by  the  way-side — The  roads 
in  Palestine  are  not  fenced  or 
walled.  They  ran  through  culti- 
vated fields,  or  along  the  border. 
In  sowing,  therefore,  some  of  the 
seed  would  be  likely  to  fall  upon  the 
path  or  road.  Fowls  devoured — 
Stanley  saw  larks  and  sparrows 
busy  picking  up  seeds  which  had 
fallen  upon  the  road  over  which  he 
was  travelling. 

5,  6.  Stony  places — The  rocky 
places.  Stony  places,  especially  on 
land  recently  cleared,  may  be  very 
productive ;  for  the  roots  will  work 
with  remarkable  persistence  between 
the  stones  to  the  needed  depth. 
Large  rocks  with  a  very  thin  layer 
of  soil  is  meant.  Seed  sown  there 
would  spring  up  quickly.  The  sun 
that  helps  a  deeply  rooted  plant 
kills  one  that  grows  out  of  a  thin 
soil. 


7  And  some  fell  among 
thorns  ;  and  the  thorns  sprung 
up,  and  choked  them  : 

8  But  other  fell  into  good 
ground,  and  brought  forth  fruit, 
some  a  hundredfold,  some  six- 
ty fold,  some  thirty  fold. 

9  Who  hath  ears  to  hear,  let 
him  hear. 

10  And  the  disciples  came, 
and  said  unto  him,  Why  speak- 
est  thou  unto  them  in  parables  ? 


7.  Fell  among  thorns — "Every 
one  who  has  been  in  Palestine  must 
have  been  struck  with  the  number 
of  thorny  shrubs  and  plants  that 
abound  there.  The  traveller  finds 
them  in  his  path,  go  where  he  may. 
Many  of  them  are  small,  but  some 
grow  as  high  as  a  man's  head.  The 
Rabbinical  writers  say  that  there  are 
no  less  than  twenty-two  words  in 
the  Hebrew  Bible  denoting  thorny 
and  prickly  plants.  The  prevalence 
of  such  shrubs,  say  agriculturists, 
shows  a  luxuriant  soil.  If  proper 
care  be  not  taken  they  soon  get  the 
upper  hand  and  spread  in  every  di- 
rection."— Hackett.  Rev.  Dr.  Smith, 
missionary  at  Beirut,  assured  Dr. 
Hackett  that  he  had  seen  thistles 
which  "rose  above  his  head,  even 
when  mounted  on  horseback." 
Tbere  is  "another  thorny  plant 
and  troublesome  weed,  the  rest-har- 
row, which  covers  entire  fields  and 
plains,  both  in  Egypt  and  Palestine." 

8.  Some  an  hundred  fold — This 
would  be  a  large  increase  from  the 
soil  of  Palestine  in  its  present  state 
under  Turkish  indolence,  but  it  can 
be  shown  that  in  many  parts  of  the 
land  the  soil  must  have  been  capa- 
ble of  it.  "In  the  time  of  Christ 
the  country  was  densely  peopled, 
and  the  fields  were  protected  from 
the  depredations  of  birds,  mice,  and 
insects,  and  also  from  cattle  and 
otber  animals  which  now  trample 
under  foot  so  much  of  the  grain." 
Then  Isaac  sowed  in  that  land,  and 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


165 


11  He  answered  and  said  un- 
to them,  Because  it  is  given 
unto  you  to  know  the  mysteries 
of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  but 
to  them  it  is  not  given. 

12  For  whosoever  hath,  to 
him  shall  be  given,  and  he 
shall  have  more  abundance : 
but  whosoever  hath  not,  from 
him  shall  be  taken  away  even 
that  he  hath. 

13  Therefore  speak  I  to 
them  in  parables  :  because  they 
seeing  see  not ;  and  hearing 
they  hear  not,  neither  do  they 
understand. 


received  in  the  same  year  a  hundred 
fold.  Gen.  26:  12.  The  young 
reader  may  be  reminded  that  this 
occurred  many  hundred  years  be- 
fore the  time  of  Christ. 

10.  Why  .  .  .  in  parables  ? — The 
question  is  evidence  that  this,  though 
not  in  itself  a  new  method,  was  then 
newly  used  by  our  Lord.  The  va- 
riety that  characterized  our  Lord's 
teaching  was  not  employed  as  an 
end,  but  as  a  means  of  effecting 
greater  moral  purposes. 

11.  Because — He  answers  their 
question.  Unto  you  —  The  disci- 
ples, but  not  the  apostles  only, 
for  there  were  others,  also,  who, 
following  him  in  a  higher  sense 
than  the  multitude,  received  his 
instructions  and  trusted  in  him. 
These,  his  real  disciples,  he  con- 
trasts with  the  multitude  who  fol- 
lowed him  with  no  deep,  spiritual 
interest.  By  God's  gracious  inter- 
position, the  former  understand  the 
mysteries  of  the  kingdom,  but  the 
latter  do  not.  The  reason  why  the 
latter  do  not  understand  them  is 
that  it  is  not  given  them ;  that  is, 
they  are  not  made  in  this  respect 
the  objects  of  God's  gracious  inter- 
position. Mysteries  —  Not  things 
which,  from  their  very  nature,  are 
difficult  to  be  understood,  but  things 


14  And  in  them  is  fulfilled 
the  prophecy  of  Esaias,  which 
saith,  By  hearing  ye  shall  hear, 
and  shall  not  understand  ;  and 
seeing  ye  shall  see,  and  shall 
not  perceive : 

15  For  this  people's  heart  is 
waxed  gross,  and  their  ears  are 
dull  of  hearing,  and  their  eyes 
they  have  closed ;  lest  at  any 
time  they  should  see  with  their 
eyes,  and  hear  with  their  ears, 
and  should  understand  with 
their  heart,  and  should  be  con- 
verted, and  I  should  heal  them. 

1 6  But  blessed  are  your  eyes, 


which    had    been  kept  concealed. 
Eph.  3  :  3-6 ;  Rom.  16  :  25,  26. 

12.  Whosoever  hath — Hath  im- 
plies activity  in  using.  He  who 
receives  and  improves  what  I  say 
shall  receive  and  will  improve  still 
more.  Hath  not — This  implies  in- 
activity in  using.  He  who  receives 
not  and  improves  not  what  I  say, 
shall  be  deprived  even  of  what  little 
he  may  have  heard. 

13-15.  Therefore,  .  .  .  because — 
We  need  notunderstandhimashere 
giving  another  reason  why  he  speaks 
to  the  multitude  in  parables,  but  as 
repeating  in  a  fuller  form  the  reason 
given  in  vs.  11.  They  see  both  him 
and  his  miracles  with  the  natural 
eye,  and  hear  his  words  with  the 
natural  ear,  but  they  have  no  spirit- 
ual perception.  He  illustrates  their 
state  by  that  of  the  people  in  the 
times  of  Isaiah.  What  was  true 
of  the  people  in  the  prophet's  day 
is  true  of  the  people  to  whom  the 
Lord  speaks.  We  understand  Jesus 
to  mean  that  the  parable  is  his 
method  of  conferring  and  his  method 
of  withholding.  In  other  words, 
the  parable  had  both  a  revealing 
and  a  concealing  power.  It  made 
truth  plainer  to  those  who  were 
sincere  seekers  of  truth,  and  ob- 
scurer to  those  who  were  in  bond- 


166 


MATTHEW. 


for  they  see :  and  your  ears, 
for  they  hear. 

17  For  verily  I  say  unto  you, 
That  many  prophets  and  right- 
eous men  have  desired  to  see 
those  things  which  ye  see,  and 
have  not  seen  them;  and  to 
hear  those  things  which  ye  hear, 
and  have  not  heard  them. 

18  %  Hear  ye  therefore  the 
parable  of  the  sower. 

19  When  any  one  heareth 
the  word  of  the  kingdom,  and 


age  to  prejudice  and  sensuality. 
In  the  course  which  Jesus  pursued 
toward  the  latter,  there  was  doubt- 
less something  of  the  nature  of 
retributive  justice.  This  is  seen 
more  clearly  in  Mark  4 :  11,  12 : 
That  seeing  they  may  see,  etc. 
That  expresses  not  mere  result, 
but  design.  Jesus  would  not,  how- 
ever, have  admitted  the  plea  of  fa- 
talism. Extremes  meet.  The  slave 
of  sense  and  the  worshipper  of  rea- 
son alike  have  not,  see  not.  Judi- 
cial blindness  falls  upon  many  now. 
Spiritual  knowledge  in  a  docile 
heart  is  an  ever-increasing  capital. 
Docility  itself  is  the  result  of  grace. 
Creating  men  for  the  purpose  of 
hardening  their  hearts,  and  then 
consigning  them  to  punishment,  is 
not  taught  by  Jesus. 

17.  Prophets  and  righteous  men 
desired  —  Therefore,  in  character, 
though  not  in  opportunity,  they  are 
to  be  classed  with  those  whose  eyes 
were  blessed  with  seeing  Jesus  him- 
self. 

18.  Hear — Not  merely  listen  to 
the  words  of  the  explanation,  but 
receive  the  spiritual  meaning. 

19.  The  word  of  the  kingdom — 
The  facts,  the  doctrines,  and  the 
sentiments  preached  by  the  Lord,  or 
by  his  servants.  Of  course  reading 
the  word  in  the  Bible  must  be  in- 
cluded.       Understandeth    it   not — 


understandeth  it  not,  then  Com- 
eth the  wicked  one,  and  catch- 
eth  away  that  which  was  sown 
in  his  heart.  This  is  he  which 
received  seed  by  the  way  side. 

20  But  he  that  received  the 
seed  into  stony  places,  the  same 
is  he  that  heareth  the  word, 
and  anon  with  joy  receiveth 
it; 

21  Yet  hath  he  not  root  in 
himself,  but  durethfor  a  while  : 
for  when  tribulation  or  perse- 


Does  not  spiritually  perceive  it. 
It  is  more  than  a  failure  of  the  in- 
tellect to  comprehend  the  meaning 
of  the  words.  The  wicked  one — 
Mark  (4  :  15)  uses  the  word  Satan, 
and  Luke  (8 :  12)  the  word  devil. 
In  using  either  of  these  terms  in 
this  unfigurative  discourse,  Jesus 
must  have  knowingly  confirmed  the 
current  belief  of  his  hearers  in  a 
personal  devil.  If  Jesus  knew  that 
there  is  no  such  being,  he  was  un- 
fitted, by  dishonesty,  to  be  a  teacher 
of  men.  Catcheth — Snatches.  Sa- 
tan's method  is  not  always  so 
violent.  In  the  parable,  fowls 
came.  Satan  employs  a  variety  of 
agents,  as  wicked  men  and  other 
evil  spirits.  Received  seed  is  in- 
correct. It  should  be,  was  sown  : 
This  is  he  which  was  sown  by  the 
way- side.  But  this  seems  to  liken 
the  hearer  instead  of  the  word  to 
the  seed.  This  was  not,  however, 
the  Lord's  intention.  "The  mean- 
ing is,  this  is  the  one  whose  case 
is  represented  by  seed  sown  by  the 
way- side." 

How  apt  is  the  representation  in 
the  parable  itself!  The  heart  that 
has  no  spiritual  perception  of  the 
truth  is  like  the  way-side.  It  is 
hard.  The  word  falls  upon  the 
surface  of  it ;  does  not  fall  into  it. 
This  is  true  of  thousands  of  per- 
sons  who  frequent  the  house    of 


CHAPTER   XIII. 


16^ 


cution  ariseth  because  of  the 
word,  by  and  by  he  is  offended. 
22  He  also  that  received 
seed  among  the  thorns  is  he 
that  heareth  the  word  ;  and  the 


God.  The  devil  snatches  it  away, — 
a  bad  spirit,  proving  that  he  did  not 
want  it  for  his  own  good. 

20,  21.  He  that  received  the  seed, 
etc. — He  that  was  sown ;  he  whose 
case  is  represented  by  seed  sown 
on  rocky  places.  This  hearer  seems 
at  first  more  likely  to  be  perma- 
nently benefited  by  the  word  than 
the  former.  In  the  case  of  the 
other,  the  word  made  no  impression 
whatever.  This  one  not  only  re- 
ceives it,  but  receives  it  with  joy. 
It  will  not  be  correct  to  say  that  it 
was  all  joy  and  no  faith;  for  Luke 
(8  :  13)  says,  Which  for  a  while  be- 
lieve. Observe  particularly  that  Mat- 
thew, Mark,  and  Luke  agree  in  this 
remarkable  fact,  that  joy  is  the  first 
state  into  which  this  second  hearer 
comes.  That  makes  him  worthy 
of  suspicion ;  for  it  is  not  the  order 
in  which  the  Holy  Spirit  works 
upon  a  sinful  being.  Conviction  of 
sin  followed  by  faith,  and  faith  fol- 
lowed by  peace,  and  in  many  cases 
by  joy;  or,  if  one  prefers  to  say  so, 
all  at  the  same  time, — this  is  the 
Spirit's  method.  That  joy  should 
come  first  as  a  genuine  work  of  the 
Spirit  is  impossible.  What  Luke 
means  by  the  faith  which  he  repre- 
sents this  hearer  as  having,  is  evi- 
dently the  same  as  Matthew  and 
Mark  mean  by  dureth  for  a  while. 
In  other  words,  had  Luke,  instead 
of  saying,  which  for  a  while  be- 
lieve, said,  but  dureth  for  a  while, 
he  would  have  meant  the  same  thing 
as  he  does  mean.  Here,  then,  is 
no  such  thing  as  a  regenerate  per- 
son becoming  unregenerate ;  that 
is,  "  falling  from  grace."  By  and 
by,  as  now  used,  means  some  time 
in  the  future,  which  is  here  not 
the  true  sense.  It  should  be  imme- 
diately. Offended — Caused  to  stum- 


care  of  this  world,  and  the  de- 
ceitfulness  of  riches,  choke  the 
word,  and  he  becometh  un- 
fruitful. 

23  But  he  that  received  seed 


ble,  that  is,  to  fall  away,  to  aban- 
don even  his  profession  of  interest 
in  the  truth.  Not  root  in  himself — 
The  little  root  that  he  has  is  in 
something  outside  of  himself;  it  is 
in  mere  circumstances.  The  word 
has  not  become  a  principle. 

Hearers  of  this  sort  are  found  in 
great  number  wherever  the  gospel 
is  preached,  even  in  the  most  gen- 
uine "revival,"  and  especially  in 
times  when  the  impulses  of  men 
are  excited  by  superficial  preach- 
ing and  artificial  measures.  Too 
much  care  cannot  be  taken  lest 
such  persons  become  members  of 
churches.  "  In  ten  years,"  says  the 
"Methodist,"  Oct.,  1867,  "  namely, 
from  1856  to  1865  inclusive,  there 
were  received  on  probation  through- 
out the  bounds  of  our  church,  the 
vast  number  of  one  million  two 
hundred  and  six  thousand  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-five !  In  1856,  we 
had  six  hundred  and  ninety-eight 
thousand  three  hundred  and  seven- 
teen members ;  in  1866,  we  had 
eight  hundred  and  seventy-one 
thousand  one  hundred  and  thirteen, 
showing  a  net  increase  in  ten  years 
of  only  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
two  thousand  two  hundred  and 
ninety-six.  .  .  .  We  confess  to  a 
feeling  of  utter  astonishment  at  the 
revelation  made  in  these  statistics 
of  the  very  small  proportionate  in- 
crease in  the  time  named."  This 
quotation  is  made  for  the  purpose 
of  suggesting  that  in  all  evangeli- 
cal denominations  more  care  should 
be  used  in  discriminating  between 
those  who  have  no  root  in  them- 
selves, and  those  who  receive  the 
word  into  good  ground. 

22.  He  also  that  received  seed — 
He  that  was  sown.  The  explana- 
tion is  similar  to  that  of  the  corre- 


168 


MATTHEW. 


into  the  good  ground  is  he  that 
heareth  the  word,  and  under- 
standeth  it;  which  also  bear- 
eth  fruit,  and  bringeth  forth, 
some  a  hundredfold,  some  six- 
t}',  some  thirty. 

24  %  Another  parable  put  he 
forth  unto  them,  »aying.  The 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  likened 
unto  a  man  which  sowed  good 
seed  in  his  field  : 

sponding  words  in  vv.  19  and  20.  In 
the  case  of  this  third  hearer,  the 
seed  is  as  good  as  in  either  of  the 
former  cases,  and  the  soil  is  deep 
and  rich.  That  is  to  say,  it  is  truth 
that  is  preached,  and  he  to  whom 
it  is  spoken  is  not  specially  indif- 
ferent and  hard  (the  way- side  hear- 
er), nor  specially  given  to  super- 
ficiality and  impulse  (the  rocky 
hearer)  ;  yet  he  gets  no  permanent 
good  from  the  truth.  The  care  of 
this  world — An  anxious,  divided 
mind  relative  to  things  temporal. 
See  note  on  6  :  25.  Deceitfuhiess  of 
riches — Both  of  riches  obtained  and 
riches  sought.  They  are  deceitful 
in  either  case  as  an  end  of  life, 
since  they  allure  the  soul  away 
from  the  only  worthy  end.  See 
Heb.  3:  13.  The  deceitfuhiess  of 
sin.  In  the  heart  where  these 
thorns  are  permitted  to  grow,  the 
truth  is  outgrown  and  overshad- 
owed, and  therefore  leads  to  no 
spiritual  results. 

23.  He  that  received  seed  into 
the  good  ground  —  He  that  was 
sown,  etc.  See  vv.  19  and  20  for  the 
explanation.  This  hearer's  heart  is 
receptive.  It  is  free  from  hardness 
(the  first),  from  shallowness  (the 
second),  from  solicitude  about  tem- 
poral things  (the  third).  This 
greater  receptivity  is  itself  chiefly 
the  result  of  divine  aid ;  for,  though 
there  is  doubtless  a  natural  differ- 
ence in  men  in  respect  to  this  qual- 
ity, yet  no  man  has  naturally  so 
much  of  it  as  to  incline  him  with- 


25  But  while  men  slept,  his 
enemy  came  and  sowed  tares 
among  the  wheat,  and  went  his 
way. 

26  But  when  the  blade  was 
sprung  up,  and  brought  forth 
fruit,  then  appeared  the  tares 
also. 

27  So  the  servants  of  the 
householder  came  and  said  un- 
to him,  Sir,  didst  not  thou  sow 

out  God's  help  to  receive  spiritual 
truth.  Jesus  does  not  mean  to 
teach  that  any  man's  heart  is  in  it- 
self naturally  good,  that  is,  holy. 

The  first  hearer  may  in  process 
of  time  become  what  the  second  is, 
and  the  second  what  the  third  is, 
and  the  third  what  the  fourth  is. 
Jesus  does  not  teach  that  either  of 
the  first  three  is  "  fated"  to  remain 
what  he  is.  The  first  may  become 
what  the  fourth  is,  as  the  fourth 
may  have  once  been  what  the  first 
is.  "It  has  been  noticed,  also," 
says  Alford,  "  that  the  first  is  more 
the  fault  of  careless,  inattentive 
childhood;  the  second  of  ardent, 
shallow  youth;  the  third  of  worldly, 
self-seeking  age." 

The  Tares. 

21-26.  In  this  parable  is  repre- 
sented the  conflict  of  good  with 
evil.  The  kingdom  of  heaven — See 
note  on  3:2.  It  is  important  to 
the  correct  understanding  of  this 
parable  to  bear  in  mind,  that  by 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  not  meant 
the  universal,  visible,  organized 
Church :  for  the  existence  of  such 
a  body  is  not  recognized  in  any  part 
of  the  New  Testament.  Of  this 
we  shall  speak  more  hereafter.  It 
is  sufficient  to  remark  here  that  the 
phrase  is  used  to  designate  the  new 
dispensation.  Likened  unto  a  man 
— The  man  and  the  circumstances 
about  to  be  narrated.  While  men 
slept — The  words  are  not  intended 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


169 


good  seed  in  thy  field?   from 
whence  then  hath  it  tares  ? 

28  He  said  unto  them,  An 
enemy  hath  done  this.  The 
servants  said  unto  him,  Wilt 
thou  then  that  we  go  and  gath- 
er them  up  ? 

29  But  he  said,  Nay ;  lest 
while  ye  gather  up  the  tares, 
ye  root  up  also  the  wheat  with 
them. 

30  Let  both  grow  together 
until  the  harvest :  and  in  the 


to  express  blame.  It  is  only  anoth- 
er way  of  saying  that  it  was  done 
in  the  night;  or,  possibly,  as  Dr. 
J.  J.  Owen  suggests,  at  the  time  of 
the  noon-nap.  Tares — The  Eng- 
lish reader  has  become  so  accus- 
tomed to  this  word  that  the  use  of 
any  other  in  this  connection  is  not 
pleasant;  yet  the  tare,  which  is 
well  known  in  Europe  as  good  fod- 
der for  cattle,  and  is  even  consider- 
ably cultivated  for  that  purpose,  is 
not  that  to  which  Jesus  refers. 
There  is  a  weed  called  darnel, 
which  is  doubtless  the  weed  referred 
to  in  the  text.  "  It  is  a  widely  dis- 
tributed grass,  and  the  only  species 
of  the  order  that  has  deleterious 
properties."  Its  botanic  name  is 
lolium  temulentum.  It  often  pro- 
duces nausea.  "  The  whole  of  the 
inmates  of  the  Sheffield  workhouse 
were  attacked  some  years  ago  with 
symptoms  supposed  to  be  produced 
by  their  oatmeal  having  been  acci- 
dentally adulterated  by  lolium.v 
"  It  is  a  strong  soporific  poison,  and 
must  be  carefully  winnowed  and 
picked  out  of  the  wheat,  grain  by 
grain,  before  grinding,  or  the  flour 
is  not  healthy.  Of  course  the  far- 
mers are  very  anxious  to  extermi- 
nate it,but  this  is  nearly  impossible." 
The  farmers  in  the  East  believe 
that  wheat  in  unfavorable  seasons 
turns  into  the  weed ;  but  the  opinion 
has  no  foundation  in  fact.  His 
15 


time  of  harvest  I  will  say  to 
the  reapers,  Gather  ye  together 
first  the  tares,  and  bind  them 
in  bundles  to  burn  them  :  but 
gather  the  wheat  into  my  barn. 

31  %  Another  parable  put  he 
forth  unto  them,  sa}Ting,  The 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  to  a 
grain  of  mustard  seed,  which 
a  man  took,  and  sowed  in  his 
field: 

32  Which  indeed  is  the  least 
of  all  seeds :   but  when  it  is 


enemy  sowed  tares — Thomson  says 
that  such  an  act  is  altogether  un- 
known at  the  present  day,  though 
he  has  no  doubt  that  it  was  done  in 
the  time  of  our  Saviour.  It  may 
be  unknown  in  Palestine,  but  it  is 
done  in  some  other  countries. 
"Thus,  in  Ireland,"  says  Trench, 
' '  I  have  known  an  outgoing  tenant, 
in  spite  at  his  ejection,  to  sow  wild 
oats  in  the  fields  which  he  was 
leaving."  Roberts  says  that  in  the 
~Ea,st  pandinellu,  that  is,  pig-paddy, 
is  sometimes  cast  in  the  night  into 
the  soil  of  the  ploughed  field  in 
revenge  upon  a  neighbor.  Spring- 
ing up  before  the  good  seed,  it  gives 
great  trouble  to  the  owner.  Alford 
says  that  a  field  belonging  to  him 
self,  in  Leicestershire,  was  ma- 
liciously sown  with  charlock  over 
the  wheat. 

29,  30.  The  tares  were  so  much 
like  the  wheat,  that  there  was  great 
danger  of  pulling  up  the  wheat  in 
the  effort  to  get  out  the  tares.  "I 
have  collected,"  says  Dr.  Hackett, 
"  some  specimens  of  this  deceitful 
weed,  and  have  found,  on  showing 
them  to  friends,  that  they  have  mis- 
taken them  quite  invariably  for 
some  species  of  grain,  such  as 
wheat  or  barley."  Thomson  says 
that  the  farmers  are  not  only  in 
danger  of  mistaking  good  grain  for 
"the  tares,"  but  very  commonly 
the  roots  of  the  two  are  so  inter- 


170 


MATTHEW. 


grown,  it  is  the  greatest  among 
herbs,  and  becometh  a  tree,  so 
that  the  birds  of  the  air  come 


twined  that  it  is  impossible  to  sepa- 
rate them  without  plucking  up  both. 
Both,  therefore,  must  be  left  to 
grow  together  until  the  time  of  har- 
vest. When  both  are  fully  grown, 
they  are  more  easily  distinguished. 

The  Mustard  Seed. 

31,  32.  The  object  of  this  parable 
is  to  illustrate  the  progress  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  in  the  heart  and 
through  the  world.  There  is  no 
need  of  supposing  that  any  other 
than  the  well-known  mustard  plant 
is  referred  to.  "  Of  the  mustard 
plants  which  I  saw  on  the  banks  of 
the  Jordan,"  says  Dr.  Hooker,  in 
Smith's  Dictionary,  "one  was  ten 
feet  high."  Thomson  saw  the  wild 
mustard  plant  as  tall  as  the  horse 
and  his  rider.  The  following  beau- 
tiful description  is  by  Dr.  Hackett : 
"  Some  days  after  this,  as  I  was 
riding  across  the  Plain  of  Akka,  on 
the  way  to  Carmel,  I  perceived,  at 
some  distance  from  the  path,  what 
seemed  to  be  a  little  forest  or  nur- 
sery of  trees.  I  turned  aside  to 
examine  them.  On  coming  nearer, 
they  proved  to  be  an  extensive  field 
of  the  plant  which  I  was  so  anxious 
to  see.  It  was  then  in  blossom,  full 
grown,  in  some  cases  six,  seven, 
and  nine  feet  high,  with  a  stem  or 
trunk  an  inch  or  more  in  thickness, 
throwing  out  branches  on  every 
side.  I  was  now  satisfied  in  part. 
I  felt  that  such  a  plant  might  well 
be  called  a  tree,  and,  in  compari- 
son with  the  seed  producing  it,  a 
great  tree.  But  still  the  branches, 
or  stems  of  the  branches,  were  not 
very  large,  or  apparently  very 
strong.  Can  the  birds,  I  said  to 
myself,  rest  upon  them  ?  Are  they 
not  too  slight  and  flexible  ?  Will 
they  bend  or  break  beneath  the  su- 
peradded weight?  At  that  very 
instant,  as  I  stood  and  revolved  the  | 


and    lodge    in    the  branches 
thereof. 

33  ^[  Another  parable  spake 


thought,  lo !  one  of  the  fowls  of 
heaven  stopped  in  its  flight  through 
the  air,  alighted  down  on  one  of 
the  branches,  which  hardly  moved 
beneath  the  shock,  and  then  began 
to  warble  forth  a  strain  of-  the  rich- 
est music.  All  my  doubts  were 
now  charmed  away.  I  was  delight- 
ed at  the  incident.  It  seemed  to 
me  at  the  moment  as  if  I  enjoyed 
enough  to  repay  me  for  all  the 
trouble  of  the  whole  journey." 
All  further  doubt  respecting  the 
matter  may  well  be  dismissed. 
Every  condition  is  here  fulfilled 
except  the  sraallness  of  the  seed, 
and  the  seed  may  have  been  the 
smallest  of  all  seeds  known  to  the 
Jews ;  or  the  expression  may  be 
rhetorical  for  very  small. 

Likening  the  progress  of  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  to  the  growth  of  a 
tree  from  the  seed  is  very  beautiful 
and  instructive.  Compare  Dan.  4  : 
10-12 ;  Ezek.  31 :  3-9.  One  little 
seed  planted  in  Bethlehem  has 
become  a  great  tree,  with  roots 
striking  deeply  into  the  soil  of  all 
lands,  and  with  foliage  spreading 
widely  over  all  nations !  Let  the 
Sabbath-school  teacher  illustrate 
the  thought  by  speaking  to  his  class 
of  the  obscurity  of  the  Saviour's 
human  origin,  and  of  the  splendid 
victories  which  Christianity  has 
achieved,  and  of  the  yet  more  splen- 
did victories  which  it  will  achieve  in 
the  future.  Let  him  contrast  with 
this  the  decay  of  false  systems  of  re- 
ligion, whether  Christian,  as  Roman- 
ism, or  pagan.  How  much  like  the 
least  of  all  seeds  is  the  beginning  of 
Christ's  life  in  the  soul !  How  dif- 
ferent after  many  years  of  growth, 
as  in  John,  Paul,  Augustine,  Lu- 
ther, Judson !  Birds  of  the  air — 
This  should  not  be  regarded  as  in- 
tended to  convey  any  particular 
spiritual  thought;  as,  for  example 
(Trench),  that  the  "church  should 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


171 


he  unto  them ;  The  king- 
dom of  heaven  is  like  unto 
leaven,  which  a  woman  took, 
and  hid  in  three  measures  of 
meal,  till  the  whole  was  leav- 
ened. 


become  a  resort  for  multitudes  for 
protection  from  worldly  oppression, 
as  well  as  the  satisfaction  for  all  the 
needs  and  wants  of  their  souls."  For, 
1.  The  idea  of  a  great  church  capable 
of  affording  such  protection  has  no 
foundation  in  the  Scriptures ;  2.  The 
multitudes  who  obtain  ' '  satisfac- 
tion," etc.,  will  become,  it  is  to  be 
presumed,  members,  and  so  they  be- 
come apart  of  the  tree  itself,  instead 
of  being  birds,  and  lodging  in  it  for  a 
night  or  two.  The  words  seem  to 
be  intended  merely  to  indicate  the 
size  to  which  the  tree  has  attained. 

The  Leaven. 

33.  This  parable  seems  intended 
to  teach  the  inward,  pervasive  force 
of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Leaven, 
as  generally  used,  "consisted  of  a 
lump  of  dough  in  a  high  state  of  fer- 
mentation, which  was  inserted  into 
the  mass  of  dough  prepared  for 
baking."  Corruption  is  the  idea 
which,  in  the  Scriptures,  leaven 
most  frequently  expresses.  "A 
multitude  of  small,  oval,  organized 
bodies,  which  do  not  exceed  one  two 
hundred  and  fiftieth  of  an  inch  in 
diameter,  and  which,  when  viewed 
under  the  microscope,  are  seen  to 
consist  of  nucleated  cells,  form  the 
essential  constituent  of  yeast."  The 
doctrine  of  the  Pharisees  was  called 
by  our  Lord  leaven  (1G :  6,  12). 
Paul  says  (1  Cor.  5:7),  Purge  out 
therefore  the  old  leaven  that  ye  may 
be  a  new  lump,  as  ye  are  unleav- 
ened; and  in  vs.  8  he  speaks  of  the 
leaven  of  malice  and  wickedness,  and 
the  unleavened  bread  of  sincerity 
and  truth.  How  sin  has  spread  from 
Eden  through  the  habitab  e  earth ! 
How  it  diffuses  itself  through  the 


34  All  these  things  spake 
Jesus  unto  the  multitude  in 
parables  ;  and  without  a  para- 
ble spake  he  not  unto  them  : 

35  That  it  might  be  fulfilled 
which  was  spoken  by  the  proph- 

race  ;  through  the  entire  mental  na- 
ture of  the  individual !  But  the 
diffusiveness  of  leaven,  irrespective 
of  quality,  may  fitly  represent  the 
pervasive  power  of  the  kingdom  of 
righteousness;  and  this  is  the  use 
which  Jesus  makes  of  it  in  the  para- 
ble. Illustrations  may  be  brought 
from  the  history  of  primitive  mis- 
sions (see  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles), 
from  that  of  modern  missions,  and 
from  the  history  of  each  renewed 
heart.  And  hid — The  secret,  un- 
observable  working  of  truth  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  may  be  intended.  Three 
measures — One  measure,  nearly  a 
peck  and  a  half.  Sarah  was  told  by 
Abraham  to  make  ready  three  meas- 
ures of  fine  meal,  knead  it,  and 
make  cakes  upon  the  hearth.  Gen. 
18  :  6.  To  suppose  that  the  number 
three  indicates  "the  three  sons  of 
Noah,"  or  "body,  soul,  and  spirit," 
or  "the  Jews,  the  Samaritans,  and 
the  Greeks,"  or  "the  three  grand 
forms  in  our  Christian  world, — indi- 
viduals (catechumens),  Churcli  and 
State,  and  the  physical  Cosmos ' 
[universe],  is  fanciful.  Three  meas- 
ures was  probably  about  the  quanti- 
ty commonly  taken  when  bread  was 
to  be  made.  Till  the  ivhole  was 
leavened — The  regenerated  soul  will 
at  length  be  completely  delivered 
from  evil,  and  the  race  will  be  very 
greatly  permeated  by  the  spirit  of 
Christ.  We  are  forbidden  by  in- 
numerable other  passages  to  regard 
it  as  teaching  that  all  men  will  be 
saved. 

34,  35.  Spake  he  not — Spoke  he 
nothing,  is  the  meaning  of  the  cor- 
rect text, — nothing  on  the  present 
occasion,  and  generally  during  the 
remainder  of  his  ministry.  By 
the  prophet — Psalm  78  :  2.     Asaph 


172 


MATTHEW. 


et,  saying,  I  will  open  my 
mouth  in  parables ;  I  will  ut- 
ter things  which  have  been  kept 
secret  from  the  foundation  of 
the  world. 

36  Then  Jesus  sent  the  mul- 
titude away,  and  went  into  the 
house  :  and  his  disciples  came 
unto  him,  saying,  Declare  un- 
to us  the  parable  of  the  tares 
of  the  field. 

37  He  answered   and  said 


was  the  writer,  and  is  here  called  a 
prophet  in  the  more  general  sense. 
Will  utter  things  .  .  .  secret — Je- 
sus is  the  great  truth-revealer.  Ra- 
tionalism affirms  that  he  revealed 
nothing;  that  "  the  men  of  science 
are  God's  true  prophets ; "  that  "we 
must  get  wholly  rid  of  belief  in  any 
old  thing  or  in  any  new  thing  of  either 
the  Old  Testament  or  the  New ;  " 
that  "truth  is  the  only  Redeemer 
we  should  acknowledge ; "  that  "re- 
ligion is  the  affirmation  of  spirit  in 
the  mind  of  man;"  that  "if  we  call 
ourselves  by  the  name  of  Christ,  we 
lose  the  true  expression  of  truth." 
The  human  mind  gets  its  most  valu- 
able truth  from  Jesus  Christ,  not 
from  its  intuitions  or  its  reasonings. 

The  Takes  Explained. 

36.  Sent  .  .  .  away — Dismissed, 
let  them  go.  Into  the  house — The 
house  where  he  commonly  dwelt, 
perhaps  the  house  of  Andrew  and 
Peter,  which,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered, was  in  Capernaum.  Declare 
—Explain. 

37,  38.  Son  of  man — See  note  on 
12 :  8,  second  paragraph.  Jesus 
here  speaks  of  himself  as  if  lie 
were  the  only  sower;  yet  Paul  (1 
Cor.  3 :  6)  says,  /  have  planted. 
But  Paul  adds,  Neither  is  he  that 
planteth  anything.  All  other  sow- 
ers get  their  seed  from  Christ,  and 
bow  with    strength    ministered  by 


unto  them,  He  that  soweth  the 
good  seed  is  the  Son  of  man  ; 

38  The  field  is  the  world ; 
the  good  seed  are  the  children 
of  the  kingdom  ;  but  the  tares 
are  the  children  of  the  wicked 
one  ; 

39  The  enemy  that  sowed 
them  is  the  devil ;  the  harvest 
is  the  end  of  the  world  ;  and 
the  reapers  are  the  angels. 

40  As  therefore  the  tares 


Christ.  To  say,  therefore,  that 
Christ  is  the  chief  sower  does  not 
exhaust  the  meaning.  He  is  actu- 
ally the  only  sower,  in  the  sense  of 
furnishing  all  the  seed  and  all  the 
strength.  • 

38.  Is  the  world — Is  the  inhabited 
earth.  It  expresses  the  extent  of  ter- 
ritory in  which  the  wheat  and  the 
darnel  were  sown.  Nothing  can  be 
plainer  than  that  it  does  not  mean 
"The  Church."  It  will  be  noticed 
that  seed  here  does  not  have  the 
same  meaning  as  in  the  parable  of 
the  sower.  .  There  it  is  the  word ; 
here  it  is  men.  Children  of  the 
kingdom — Not,  as  in  8  :  12,  mem- 
bers of  the  Jewish  theocracy,  not 
many  of  whom  were  regenerated 
persons,  but  sons  by  adoption,  true 
disciples  of  Christ.  Children  of  the 
wicked  one — Those  who  are  like  the 
wicked  one.  The  distinction  made 
by  the  evangelical  pulpit  between 
the  righteous  and  the  wicked  is  au- 
thorized by  the  divine  Teacher.  It 
is  not  error,  but  errorists,  not  wick- 
edness, but  the  wicked,  that  Jesus 
represents  as  the  deviVs  darnel. 

39.  The  devil — Being  not  the 
words  of  the  parable  but  of  the 
Lord's  interpretation,  these  words 
are  another  striking  proof  that  Je- 
sus intended  to  teach  the  existence 
of  a  personal  Satan.  Satan  began 
to  sow  in  Eden,  and  has  been  a  busy 
sower  ever  since.  If  he  went  his 
way  (vs.  25),  it  was   not  that  he 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


173 


are  gathered  and  burned  in  the 
fire ;  so  shall  it  be  in  the  end 
of  this  world. 

41  The  Son  of  man  shall  send 
forth  his  angels,  and  they  shall 
gather  out  of  his  kingdom  all 


might  settle  down  in  inactivity,  but 
that  he  might  sow  elsewhere.  The 
enemy — Nothing  that  Satan  does  is 
the  work  of  a  friend.  He  works  se- 
cretly :  While  men  slept.  The  end 
of  the  world — The  end  of  this  pro- 
bationary state. 

41.  His  angels — Compare  25  :  31. 
Out  of  his  kingdom — Not,  out  of 
"  The  Church."  Church  and  king- 
dom are  not  synonymous.  We  have 
already  denned  kingdom- as  the  new 
dispensation,  conceived  as  extend- 
ing over  the  entire  inhabited  earth. 
To  gather,  then,  out  of  his  kingdom 
all  things  that  offend  is  a  figurative 
way  of  saying  that  all  the  wicked 
— whether  they  are  in  organized 
churches  or  not  is  not  at  all  the 
question — shall  be  separated  from 
the  righteous  and  be  consigned  to 
punishment.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
some  of  the  wicked  will  be  found  in 
true  Christian  churches,  many  in 
those  heterogeneous  bodies  called, 
each,  "The  Church,"  married  to 
the  State,  and  many  outside  of  all 
churches,  the  true  and  the  false. 
Dr.  Whedon's  view  of  the  parable 
seems  to  us  to  be  much  more  nearly 
correct  than  that  of  most  of  the  com- 
mentators ;  for  most  of  them  com- 
mit the  great  mistake  of  suppos- 
ing the  Saviour  to  refer  to  "The 
Church,"  as  if  that  were  the  body 
in  which  the  wheat  and  the  tares 
(the  regenerate  and  the  known  un- 
regenerate)  are  to  be  permitted  to 
grow  together.  "It  is  not  so  much," 
says  Dr.  Whedon,  "a  parable  of 
the  church  as  of  the  world  and  the 
church  under  the  Messiah;  for  the 
field  is  the  world." 

The    true    ideal   of    a   Christian 
church,  according  to  the  New  Tes- 
tament, is  that  of  a  company   of 
15* 


things  that  offend,  and  them 
which  do  iniquity ; 

42  And  shall  cast  them  into 
a  furnace  of  fire :  there  shall 
be  wailing  and  gnashing  of 
teeth. 


persons  living  in  one  city  or  vil- 
lage, all  of  whom  have  been  re- 
generated by  the  Holy  Spirit,  not 
through  baptism  or  in  baptism; 
and,  after  regeneration,  have  been 
baptized,  and  have  agreed  to  asso- 
ciate together  for  the  maintenance 
of  spiritual  life  in  their  own  souls, 
and  the  conversion  of  others  to  the 
same  kind  of  life.  Of  course  this 
ideal  can  never  be  fully  realized  in 
this  world;  but  does  this  justify 
us  in  opening  the  doors  of  "The 
Church,"  or  of  Christian  churches, 
so  widely,  by  infant  membership  or 
infant  baptism,  as  very  nearly  to 
transform  the  field  of  wheat  into 
a  field  of  darnel?  The  churches 
will  be  far  enough  from  perfection, 
even  if  we  adhere  to  the  apostolic 
example.  Besides,  the  duty  of  ex- 
communicating members  who  give 
no  evidence  of  regeneration  is  ex- 
pressly enjoined.  See  on  16 :  18, 
concerning  the  distinction  between 
"The  Church"  and  churches,  last 
paragraph  but  one. 

42.  Furnace  of  fire  —  Conscious 
suffering  as  a  punishment  for  their 
sins.  On  the  subject  of  future  pun- 
ishment, see  notes  on  25 :  41,  46 
As  to  the  figure  here  employed,  it 
may  be  remarked  that  the  Jewish 
mind  had  become  familiar  with  the 
fact  that  the  furnace  was  used  as  a 
means  of  inflicting  capital  punish- 
ment. Whoso  falleth  not  down  and 
worshippeth,  shall  the  same  hour 
be  cast  into  the  midst  of  a  burning 
fiery  furnace.  Dan.  3:6.  "A 
parallel  case"  [in  Persia]  "is  men- 
tioned by  Chardin,  two  ovens  hav- 
ing been  kept  ready  heated  for  a 
whole  month  to  throw  in  any  corn- 
dealers  who  raised  the  price  of 
corn." 


174 


MATTHEW. 


43  Then  shall  the  righteous 
shine  forth  as  the  sun  in  the 
kingdom  of  their  Father.  Who 
hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear. 


43.  Shine  forth  —  This  beautiful 
verse  is  still  more  beautiful  in  the 
original:  Shine  out!  There  it  is 
one  word.  The  righteous  will  shine 
forth  with  the  glory  reflected  from 
Christ.  The  kingdom  of  their  Fa- 
ther— The  kingdom  is  conceived  as 
in  heaven  in  its  completed  state. 


The  Hidden  Treasure. 

44.  Here  is  illustrated  the  fact 
that  the  blessings  of  the  new  dis- 
pensation, though  they  may  not 
have  been  sought,  may  yet  be  joy- 
fully taken  when  they  are  unexpect- 
edly put  within  one's  reach.  It  has 
always  been  more  common  in  the 
East  than  in  the  West  to  hide  treas- 
ures in  the  earth,  and  that  because 
the  rights  of  property  have  there 
been  less  respected.  Hence  the 
hiding  of  treasure  is  often  spoken 
of  in  the  Bible.  Prov.  2:4;  Job 
3 :  21 ;  Jer.  41 :  8.  A  few  years 
ago  about  eight  thousand  gold  coins 
of  Alexander  and  his  father  Philip 
were  found  in  or  near  the  city  of 
Sidon.  They  were  contained  in 
several  copper  pots,  and  are  esti- 
mated as  worth,  at  the  price  of  gold 
in  the  time  of  Alexander,  forty 
thousand  pounds.  Thomson,  who 
speaks  of  the  discovery,  suspects 
"  it  was  royal  treasure,  which  one 
of  Alexander's  officers  concealed 
when  he  heard  of  his  unexpected 
death  in  Babylon,  intending  to  ap- 
propriate it  to  himself,  but  being 
apprehended,  slain,  or  driven  away 
by  some  of  the  revolutions  which 
followed  that  event,  the  coin  re- 
mained where  he  had  hid  it." 

Men  may  differ  concerning  the 
morality  of  the  act  of  purchasing 
such  a  field  of  the  owner  without 


44  f  Again,  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  like  unto  treasure 
hid  in  a  field  ;  the  which  when 
a  man  hath  found,  he  hideth, 


informing  him  of  the  increased  val- 
ue of  the  land.  Some  say  boldly 
that  it  would  not  be  loving  his 
neighbor  as  himself,  and  would, 
therefore,  be  wrong.  Perhaps  so; 
but  the  purpose  for  which  the  Sa- 
viour constructed  the  parable  re- 
quired no  expression  of  opinion 
relative  to  the  character  of  the  act, 
that  purpose  being  simply  this,  to 
show  the  joyful  activity  of  the 
man  to  whom  the  blessings  of  the 
gospel  have  been  presented,  even 
without  his  searching.  This  proves 
that  the  preceding  parables  give  no 
countenance  to  fatalism.  No  man 
may  say,  One  is  wheat,  and  another 
is  darnel,  and  nothing  can  make 
darnel  wheat.  This  parable  and 
the  next  one  teach  the  duty  and  the 
necessity  of  human  activity.  In  a 
field — So  many  of  the  most  distin- 
guished interpreters  are,  or,  when 
living,  were,  members  of  a  State 
Church,  or  of  some  other  great, 
visible  organization  called  "  The 
Church,"  that  they  incline  to  see 
"The  Church  "where  others  can- 
not see  it.  But  the  leading  thought 
of  the  parable  does  not  require  that 
any  special  idea  should  be  con- 
sidered as  intended  to  be  expressed 
in  the  term  field,  as  Church,  or  a 
"  worldly  ecclesiasticism,"  or  even 
the  Bible.  That  true  Christianity 
has  been  hidden  at  times  in  a  world- 
ly organization  arrogating  the  name 
of  Church  may  serve  well  enough 
as  an  illustration,  but  it  cannot 
have  been  the  thought  which  Jesus 
intended  to  teach.  Eph.  3 :  9  is 
here  important.  And  to  make  all 
men  see  what  is  the  fellowship  of 
the  mystery,  which,  from  the  be- 
ginning of  the  world,  hath  hecn  hid 
in  God.  He  hideth — Merely  a  pic- 
torial feature  of  the  parable  to  aid 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


175 


and  f  3r  joy  thereof  goeth  and 
selleth  all  that  he  hath,  and 
buyeth  that  field. 

45  %  Again,  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  like  unto  a  merchant- 
man, seeking  goodly  pearls : 


in  impressing  the  idea  that  the  man 
is  bent  upon  securing  the  treasure, 
which  is  the  main  thought  conveyed 
in  going,  selling  all,  and  buying  the 
field. 

The  Pearl  Merchant. 

45,  46.  In  the  last  parable,  men 
are  represented  as  active  in  receiv- 
ing the  blessings  of  the  gospel  when 
Providence  puts  them  in  their  way ; 
in  this,  as  active  in  seeking  them. 
Merchant-man  —  Merchant.  The 
former  is  the  common  name  of  a 
trading  vessel.  This  is  a  wholesale 
merchant  in  distinction  from  retail. 
The  latter  confines  himself  to  the 
store ;  this  man  travels.  Pearl — "A 
small,  silvery,  white,  hard,  smooth, 
lustrous  substance,  globular,  oval, 
or  pear-shaped,  found  in  the  interior 
of  the  shells  of  many  species  of 
mollusks,  particularly  of  the  pearl- 
oyster,  apparently  resulting  from 
the  deposit  of  the  nacreous  sub- 
stance around  some  nucleus." 
Pearls  are  found  in  Ceylon,  Califor- 
nia, etc.  Many  of  them  are  found 
by  a  class  of  men  called  pearl-di- 
vers,— in  California,  Busos.  These, 
"armed  with  pointed  staves,  plunge 
into  water  four  or  five  fathoms  deep, 
and  when  they  find  a  pearl-bearing 
oyster  rise  to  the  surface,  and  de- 
posit their  prize  in  a  sack  hung  to 
the  vessel's  side.  This  they  con- 
tinue to  do  until  they  are  exhausted, 
or  their  time  of  labor  is  over."  In 
1831,  one  vessel  "brought  home  in 
two  months  forty  ounces  of  pearls, 
worth  six  thousand  dollars ;  another 
twenty-one  ounces,  worth  three 
thousand  dollars." — Annual  of  Sci- 
entific Discovery,  1851. 

Goodly  pearls — There    is   much 


46  Who,  when  he  had  found 
one  pearl  of  great  price,  went 
and  sold  all  that  he  had,  and 
bought  it. 

47  Tf  Again,  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  like  unto  a  net,  that 


difference  of  value  even  in  real 
pearls.  But  there  are  pearls  that 
are  not  real.  1.  The  cocoa-nut 
pearl,  a  specimen  of  which  was  once 
laid  before  the  Boston  Society  of 
Natural  History.  That  came  from 
Singapore.  Though  much  prized  by 
the  rajahs,  yet  a  distinction  is  made 
between  this  kind  and  the  oyster- 
pearl,  the  latter  being  distinguished 
as  real  pearl. — An.  Sci.  Dis.,  1861. 
2.  Pearls  which  are  hastened  in 
their  growth  in  the  oyster,  by  the 
people  of  two  Chinese  villages  near 
the  city  of  Tehtsing,  by  the  intro- 
duction of  irritating  "moulds." 
When  the  moulds  are  removed,  they 
are  cut  away  from  the  nacre,  and 
"melted  resin  is  poured  into  the 
cavity,  and  the  orifice  artfully  cov- 
ered by  a  piece  of  mother-of-pearl." 
They  are  sold  at  a  cheap  rate.  3. 
Imitation  pearls.  These  are  made 
in  Paris,  being  lined  with  fish-scales 
and  wax,  the  scales  being  stripped 
from  the  fish  while  living  that  the 
hue  of  the  real  pearl  may  not  fail  to 
be  imitated. — An.  Sci.  Dis.,  1854. 
4.  Another  kind  of  imitation  pearls, 
invented  in  the  fifteenth  century. 
"  These  are  small  beads  of  thin 
glass,  lined  in  the  interior  with  a 
substance  obtained  by  rubbing  up 
the  scales  of  a  fish,  '  the  ablette,' 
very  common  in  the  rivers  of  conti- 
nental Europe." — An.  Sci.  Dis., 
1862.  None  of  these  pearls  can  be 
called  "goodly"  in  the  higher  sense, 
for  they  are  not  real  pearls. 

Seeking  goodly  pearls — He  who 
has  become  conscious  of  his  igno- 
rance and  sinfulness  goes  about 
searching  for  something  to  supply 
his  wants.  Neither  sensual  pleas- 
ure, nor  riches,  nor  philosophy,  can 
satisfy  him.      He  longs  for  some- 


176 


MATTHEW. 


was  cast  into  the  sea,  and  gath- 
ered of  every  kind : 

48  Which,  when  it  was  full, 
they  drew  to  shore,  and  sat 
down,  and  gathered  the  good 
into  vessels,  but  cast  the  bad 
awa}r. 

49  So  shall  it  be  at  the  end 


thing  nobler.  But  like  pearls  even 
the  noblest  thing  can  be  so  closely 
counterfeited  as  to  deceive  him. 
One  pearl  of  great  price — Of  such 
uncommon  size  and  beauty  that  he 
was  willing  to  sell  all  the  other 
pearls  he  had  collected  and  every- 
thing besides  for  the  sake  of  obtain- 
ing it.  Salvation  is  the  pearl  of 
great  price.  Compare  Heb.  2:3: 
How  shall  we  escape,  if  we  neglect 
so  great  salvation  t  Salvation  from 
the  penalty  of  God's  violated  law 
and  from  sin  is  the  invaluable  pearl ; 
not  a  mere  "hope,"  not  membership 
in  the  church,  not  even  the  Bible. 
Sold  all  that  he  had — Everything 
must  be  relinquished  that  comes  in 
competition  with  the  attainment  of 
eternal  life.  Personal  virtues,  how- 
ever real,  must  not  be  put  into  the 
scale  with  the  boundless  value  of 
Christ's  righteousness.  Bought  it — 
But  eternal  life  is  to  be  bought  with- 
out money  and  without  price.  The 
pearl  of  great  price  may  be  imitated. 
The  imitation  may  be  very  bad ;  but 
multitudes  take  it,  and  think  they 
have  the  best  pearl  in  the  market. 
For  these  mock  pearls  a  very  high 
price  is  asked,  and  many  are  willing 
to  pay  it.  The  Chinese  villagers 
above  named  sometimes  deposit  a 
"mould"  of  Buddha,  and  so  are 
able  to  offer  for  sale  gods  of  pearl 
filled  ivith  melted  resin !  The  lining 
of  the  imitation  pearls  (4)  is  called 
by  the  "pompous  name"  Essence 
d'  Orient,  to  conceal ' '  the  true  nature 
of  the  material  from  which  it  was 
prepared,"  and  it  has  been  "discov- 
ered that  it  is  identical  with  a  prin- 
ciple extracted  directly  from  guano." 


of  the  world  :  the  angels  shah 
come  forth,  and  sever  the 
wicked  from  among  the  just, 

50  And  shall  cast  them  into 
the  furnace  of  fire  :  there  shall 
be  wailing  and  gnashing  of 
teeth. 

51  Jesus  saith  unto  them, 


The  application  of  these  facts  to  the 
assumptions  of  rationalism  is  not 
difficult. 

The  Net. 

47-50.  Here  is  taught  the  final 
separation  of  the  bad  from  the  good. 
Net — Drag-net.  "Then,"  says 
Thomson,  "there  is  the  great  drag- 
net, the  working  of  which  teaches 
the  value  of  united  effort.  Some 
must  row  the  boat,  some  cast  out 
the  net,  some  on  the  shore  pull  the 
rope  with  all  their  strength,  others 
throw  stones  and  beat  the  water 
round  the  ends,  to  frighten  the  fish 
from  escaping  there,  and  as  it  ap- 
proaches the  shore  every  one  is  ac- 
tive in  holding  up  the  edges,  draw- 
ing it  to  land,  and  seizing  the  fish. 
This  is  that  net  which  gathered  of 
every  kind,  and,  when  drawn  to  the 
shore,  the  fishermen  sit  doAvn  and 
gather  the  good  into  vessels,  but 
cast  the  bad  away.  I  have  watched 
this  operation  throughout  a  hundred 
times  along  the  shore  of  the  Medi- 
terranean/' Every  Icind — Of  fishes. 
Dreio  to  shore — Drew  up  on  the 
beach. 

This  parable,  also,  has  been  in- 
terpreted (Lange,  Trench,  and  oth- 
ers) under  the  influence  of  errone- 
ous views  of  the  nature  of  a  Chris- 
tian church.  By  net  they  under- 
stand "The  Church;"  by  sea,  the 
nations ;  by  fishes,  men ;  by  good 
fishes,  believers.  Alford  (Episco- 
palian) says,  "This  net  is  the  church 
gathering  from  the  sea  .  .  .  of  the 
world  all  kinds."  To  this  interpre- 
tation is  the  insurmountable  objec* 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


177 


Have  ye  understood  all  these 
things?  They  say  unto  him, 
Yea,  Lord. 

52  Then  said  he  unto  them, 
Therefore  every  scribe  which  is 
instructed  unto  the  kingdom  of 


tionthat  members  of  "The  Church " 
were  once  fishes  themselves.  How, 
then,  can  they  be  considered  as  the 
net?  The  explanation  seems  to 
proceed  from  the  mistake  of  re- 
garding "  The  Church"  as  an  ideal 
organization  apart  from  the  mem- 
bers who  -constitute  it.  It  is  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  which  the  Lord 
represents  as  a  net,  and  that,  as  in 
the  parable  of  the  tares,  is  the  Chris- 
tian dispensation.  Within  the  lim- 
its over  which  that  dispensation 
extends  are  the  bad  and  the  good, 
believers  and  unbelievers,  who,  at 
the  end  of  the  world,  will  be  sepa- 
rated from  each  other.  No  doubt  the 
purest  Christian  churches — those 
that  endeavor  to  conform  to  the 
apostolic  model  by  receiving  to 
baptism  and  membership  none  but 
confessing  believers — will  be  found 
to  have  received,  though  uninten- 
tionally, persons  that  were  never  re- 
newed. Such  unrenewed  members 
of  Christian  churches  are  of  course 
included  in  "the. bad."  But  this  is 
nothing  in  support  of  a  system,  like 
infant  church-membership,  which, 
according  to  Rev.  Dr.  Stearns, 
President  of  Amherst  College,  is 
the  real  basis  of  infant  baptism, — a 
system  that  facilitates  the  introduc- 
tion of  unrenewed  persons  into  a 
Christian  church. 

51,  52.  Have  ye  understood? — 
What  tender  and  eager  interest  does 
the  Great  Teacher  manifest  in  his 
pupils !  The  light  in  which  this 
6imple  question  places  our  Lord  is 
of  wonderful  brightness.  Here  is  a 
rich  lesson  for  Sabbath-school  teach- 
ers and  ministers.  Scribe — See  note 
on  5 :  20  concerning  the  Jewish 
scribes.  These  disciples  of  Christ 
are  to  be  the  scribes  of  the  world. 


heaven,  is  like  unto  a  man  that 
is  a  householder,  which  bring- 
eth  forth  out  of  his  treasure 
things  new  and  old. 

53  %  And  it  came  to  pass, 
that  when  Jesus  had  finished 


Witness  the  four  Gospels,  their  oral 
discourses,  and  their  epistles.  As  a 
householder,  the  head  of  a  family, 
brings  forth  for  the  support  of  those 
who  are  dependent  on  him  provis- 
ions both  new  and  old,  since  both 
may  be  good  in  their  season,  so  these 
men,  thus  instructed  in  (not  unto) 
the  kingdom,  must  bring  forth  for 
the  benefit  of  others  all  that  Christ 
has  taught  them,  whether  it  is  the 
older  class  of  truths,  such  as  good 
men  of  former  times  had,  or  the 
newer  class,  such  as  he  has  given  to 
themselves.  "Great  sermons "  are 
those  which  are  full  of  thought, — 
the  old  and  the  new.  Physical 
energy  in  preaching  is  of  great  im- 
portance, but  it  is  a  miserable  sub- 
stitute for  thought.  Not  all  truth  is 
suitable  for  the  pulpit.  Not  all  re- 
ligious truth  is  distinctively  Chris- 
tian. Not  all  Christian  truth  is 
equally  instructive.  The  lighter 
Christian  truth  is  more  adapted  to 
immediate  effect ;  the  more  solid  is 
needful  for  the  development  of 
Christian  character  and  for  continu- 
ous usefulness.  The  instructed 
scribe  will  use  both. 

53-56.  Departed  thence — From 
Capernaum.  Come  into  his  own 
country — Not  in  the  wide  sense  in 
which  the  word  country  is  now  used. 
His  paternal  city,  Nazareth,  is 
meant.  It  is  not  necessary  to  sup- 
pose that  he  went  directly  from  Ca- 
pernaum to  Nazareth.  According 
to  Mark  (4 :  35),  he  went  the  same 
day,  at  evening,  over  the  Sea  of  Ti- 
berias. Only  a  few  days,  however, 
could  have  elapsed  before  he  went 
to  his  former  home.  Sijnagogue — 
See  note  on  4  :  23.  Carpenter 's  son 
— This  was  not  said  in  reproach; 
for  such  a  trade  was  not  held  by  the 


178 


MATTHEW. 


these    parables,   he    departed 
thence. 

54  And  when  he  was  come 
into  his  own  country,  he  taught 
them  in  their  synagogue,  inso- 
much that  they  were  aston- 
ished, and  said,  Whence  hath 
this  man  this  wisdom,  and  these 
mighty  works  ? 

55  Is  not  this  the  carpenter's 
son?  is  not  his  mother  called 


Jews  in  disesteem.  The  Son  of  God 
made  himself  of  no  reputation ;  but 
not  by  working,  if  he  did  work,  at 
the  trade  of  a  carpenter.  The  ques- 
tion relative  to  his  being  the  son  of 
the  carpenter  is  equivalent  to  the 
question,  Is  not  this  the  son  of  Jo- 
seph, who  is  known  among  us  as  Jo- 
seph the  carpenter  ?  It  was  prompted 
by  the  same  spirit  as  the  questions 
concerning  his  relations  to  his  moth- 
er, his  brothers,  and  his  sisters.  In 
all  these  questions  alike  they  only 
mean  to  deny  that  he  is  superior  to 
themselves ;  mean  to  affirm  that  they 
know  him  as  having  such  persons 
as  parents,  and  such  persons  as 
brothers  and  sisters.  Thus  they 
would  invalidate  his  claims ;  or,  pos- 
sibly, they  are  only  surprised,  con- 
founded, by  what  seems  to  them  a 
difficult  problem ;  namely,  his  works 
and  words  viewed  in  the  light  of 
his  earthly  relations ;  yet  they  are 
guilty  of  the  sin  of  unbelief. 

His  brethren — Brothers  in  the 
usual  sense  ?  or  cousins  ? — questions 
the  discussion  of  which  would  be 
too  long  and  uninteresting  for  the 
general  student.  The  writer  ac- 
cepts as  the  more  probable  opinion 
that  they  were  real  brothers,  chil- 
dren of  Joseph  and  Mary,  or  of  Jo- 
seph by  a  former  marriage.  As  has 
been  shown  by  Alford,  (n.)  They  are 
mentioned,  with  a  single  exception 
(John  7  :  3),  in  connection  with  his 
mother;  (6.)  They  are  not  spoken 
of  as  of  the  number  of  the  twelve  : 
by    Schaff,    (a.)   They  are    never 


Maiy?  and  his  brethren, 
James,  and  Joses,  and  Simon, 
and  Judas  ? 

56  And  his  sisters,  are  they 
not  all  with  us  ?  Whence  then 
hath  this  man  all  these  things  ? 

57  And  they  were  offended 
in  him.  But  Jesus  said  unto 
them,  A  prophet  is  not  with- 
out honour,  save  in  his  own 
country,  and  in  his  own  house. 


called  cousins,  though  that  term  is 
found  in  the  New  Testament ;  (J.) 
They  are  represented  as  unbelievers 
long  after  the  call  of  the  apostles. 
Difficulties  attend  this  theory,  but 
not  greater,  to  say  the  least,  than 
are  found  in  the  other.  The  ques- 
tion has  excited  intense  interest  in 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  con- 
sequence of  its  relation  to  the  sub- 
ject of  the  perpetual  virginity  of 
Mary. 

57,  58.  Offended  in  him — Took 
offence  at  his  professions.  Com- 
pare, as  of  much  interest  in  this  con- 
nection, 11:  6.  A  prophet  .  .  .  not 
without  honor — A  proverb  rich  in 
suggestiveness,  but  so  easy  to  be 
understood  as  to  need  no  comment. 
Because  of  their  unbelief — An  im- 
portant statement,  showing  the  rela- 
tion of  faith  to  the  exercise  of  the 
Lord's  healing  power.  It  is  also 
important,  because  showing  how 
clearly  Christ  recognized  the  free- 
dom of  the  human  will. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

news  of  John's  death;   feedinq 
of  a  great  multitude;  rescue 

OF   PETER. 

*8»  U.C.     April,  A.».  39. 

1.  At  that  time — It  has  been  cal- 
culated that  John  was  beheaded  not 
far  from  the  beginning  of  April,  in 
the  year  of  Rome  782,  A.D.  29. 
The  news  must  have  been  carried  to 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


17& 


58  And  he  did  not  many 
mighty  works  there  because  of 
their  unbelief. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

AT  that  time  Herod  the  te- 
trarch  heard  of  the  fame 
of  Jesus, 

2  And  said  unto  his  ser- 
vants, This  is  John  the  Bap- 


Jesus  (vs.  12)  not  many  days  after; 
and  not  till  after  he  had  put  John  to 
death  did  Herod  hear  of  the  popu- 
larity of  Jesus.  He  may  have  been 
in  Rome,  or  been  engaged  in  war ; 
or,  which  is  quite  as  probable,  was 
so  engrossed  in  the  administration 
of  affairs  and  in  pleasure  that  the 
new  movement  had  not  arrested  his 
attention.  Herod  the  tetrarch — See 
the  genealogical  table  of  the  Her- 
od family  in  the  notes  on  2  : 1.  This 
was  Herod  Antipas,  son  of  Herod 
the  Great.  His  mother's  name  was 
Malthace.  His  first  wife  was  a 
daughter  of  Aretas,  King  of  Arabia 
Petraea.  While  she  was  still  living 
he  became  enamored  with  Herodias, 
the  wife  of  his  half-brother,  Herod 
Philip.  Aretas,  in  revenge,  waged 
war  against  Herod,  and  defeated  him. 
According  to  Josephus,  many  be- 
lieved that  the  defeat  was  a  punish- 
ment for  the  murder  of  John.  He 
died  in  exile.  If  he  was  less  cruel 
than  his  father,  it  was  rather  be- 
cause he  had  less  intellect  than  be- 
cause he  had  more  compassion.  He 
was  sensual,  ambitious,  cunning. 
Sensual  pleasures  close  the  heart 
against  merciful  deeds. 

2.  Under  the  sudden  working  of 
conscience,  which  neither  his  pleas- 
ures nor  his  troubles  could  prevent, 
Herod  imagined  that  John  had  actu- 
ally risen  from  the  dead.  It  has 
been  hastily  assumed  that  he  was  a 
Sadducee ;  but  whether  he  was  or 
was  not,  his  fears  were  the  natural 
result    of   consciousness   of   guilt. 


tist ;  he  is  risen  from  the  dead  • 
and  therefore  mighty  works  do 
shew  forth  themselves  in  him. 

3  %  For  Herod  had  laid  hold 
on  John,  and  bound  him,  and 
put  him  in  prison  for  Herodias' 
sake,  his  brother  Philip's  wife. 

4  For  John  said  unto  him,  It 
is  not  lawful  for  thee  to  have 
her. 

5  And  when  he  would  have 


Mighty  works — Not  miracles,  but 
the  powers  by  which  miracles  were 
wrought.  Show  forth  themselves — 
Energize.  Therefore  do  the  powers 
—  that  is,  those  powers  of  which  I 
have  heard,  energize  or  work  in  him. 
He  could  not  keep  his  fears  to  him- 
self. He  uttered  them  to  his  ser- 
vants,— slaves,  courtiers, — "an  ori- 
ental expression."  Bad  men  seek 
relief  by  disclosing  their  fears  to 
those  who  are  like  them.  From 
good  men  they  generally  conceal 
them. 

3.  We  are  now  taken  back  to  the 
time  when  John  was  beheaded.  The 
circumstances  of  his  death  are  nar- 
rated in  parenthesis  (3-12),  for  the 
purpose  of  explaining  the  state  of 
Herod's  mind.  In  prison — The  cas- 
tle of  Machaerus,  near  the  Dead 
Sea.  For  Herodias'  sake — History 
has  many  mortifying  illustrations  of 
the  influence  which  bad  women  have 
exerted  over  kings  as  well  as  over 
persons  in  private  life. 

4.  Not  lawful— Why  not?  "She 
first  married  Herod,  surnamed  Phil- 
ip, ..  .  her  full  uncle ;  then  sh* 
eloped  from  him  .  .  .to  marry  Her- 
od Antipas,  her  step-uncle,  who  bad 
been  long  married  to,  and  was  liv- 
ing with,  the  daughter  of  iEneas  ol 
Aretas, — his  assumed  name, — King 
of  Arabia.  Thus  she  left  her  hus- 
band, who  was  still  alive,  to  connect 
herself  with  a  man  whose  wife  was 
still  alive.  Her  paramour  was  in- 
deed less  of  a  blood  relation  than 
her    original  husband;    but  being 


180 


MATTHEW. 


put   him   to   death,  he   feared 
the    multitude,    because    they 
counted  him  as  a  prophet. 
6  But  when  Herod's  birthday 


likewise  the  half-brother  of  that  hus- 
band, lie  was  already  connected  with 
her  hy  affinity. — so  close  that  there 
was  only  one  case  contemplated  in 
the  law  of  Moses  where  it  could  be 
set  aside,  namely,  when  the  married 
brother  had  died  childless.  Now 
Herodias  had  already  one  child — 
Salome — by  Philip,  and,  as  he  was 
^t ill  alive,  might  have  had  more. 
Well,  therefore,  may  she  be  charged 
by  Josephus  with  the  intention  of 
confounding  her  countiy's  institu- 
tions ;  and  Avell  may  St.  John  the 
Baptist  have  remonstrated  against 
the  enormity  of  such  a  connection 
with  the  tetrarch." 

In  such  matters,  it  has  been  very 
common  for  kings  to  act  in  defiance 
of  all  law,  human  and  divine.  Hen- 
ry VIII.,  King  of  England,  is  a 
noted  example,  though  a  recent 
historian  has  set  his  case,  in  some 
respects,  in  a  more  favorable  light. 
His  case,  however,  even  yet  is  far 
enough  from  that  of  a  saint.  John 
was  a  bold  preacher.  He  was  not 
"  a  reed  shaken  with  the  wind."  See 
a  similar  case  of  boldness  in  Paul. 
He  reproved  the  licentiousness  of 
Felix,  when  Felix'  mistress,  Dru- 
silla,  herself  one  of  the  Herod  fam- 
ily, was  sitting  by  his  side.  See 
Acts  21 :  21,  25.  Violators  of  the 
seventh  commandment  are  painful- 
ly numerous,  and  that  not  merely 
in  the  lower  classes.  They  should 
be  rebuked  whatever  their  social 
position. 

6.  The  daughter  of  Herodias — 
Salome.  "  She  married  in  the  first 
place  Philip,  the  tetrarch  of  Tra- 
chonitis,  her  paternal  uncle,  and 
secondly  Aristobulus,  King  of  Chal- 
cis."  Herod's  birthday  was  kepi — 
As  a  feast-day.  Where  ?  Probably 
in  Tiberias.  This  city  was  built  by 
Herod,  and  became  the  seat  of  his 


was  kept,  the  daughter  of  He- 
rodias danced  before  them,  and 
pleased  Herod. 

7    Whereupon  he  promised 


residence.  It  stood  on  the  western 
shore  of  the  Sea  of  Tiberias,  "  about 
two-thirds  of  the  way  between  the 
northern  and  southern  end  of  the 
sea."  On  the  same  spot  is  the 
modern  town  of  Tubarieh.  It  has 
been  thought,  by  some,  that  the 
feast  must  have  been  held  nearer 
the  prison  where  John  was  confined. 
In  favor  of  this,  is  the  distance 
(two  days'  travel)  from  the  capital 
to  the  prison;  but  against  it  is 
Mark's  statement  that  there  were 
present  at  the  feast  chief  men  of 
Galilee.  On  so  distinguished  an 
occasion,  however,  the  chief  men 
of  Galilee  may  have  had  no 
hesitancy  to  go  a  two  days'  jour- 
ney. "The  JeAvs  abhorred  keeping 
birthdays,  as  a  pagan  custom."  Has 
Matthew,  then,  made  either  a  mis- 
take, or  a  misrepresentation,  in 
speaking  of  Herod's  birthday 
feast?  See  how  Matthew  is  con- 
firmed by  Josephus.  "Herod  the 
Great  kept  the  day  of  his  accession ; 
Antipas  .  .  .  and  Agrippa  I.,  as 
Josephus  tells  us,  .  .  .  their  birth- 
day, with  such  magnificence,  that 
the  '  birthdays  of  Herod '  had 
passed  into  a  proverb  when  Per- 
sius  wrote."  This  is  what  a  Jew 
says  concerning  a  Jew,  neither 
having  belief  in  Christianity,  and, 
though  Jews  by  religion,  "  the 
Herods  may  be  said  to  have  gone 
beyond  Rome  in  the  observance  of 
all  that  was  Roman,"  and  with  the 
Romans  birthday  feasts  were  a 
custom.  Thus  is  the  inspired  re- 
port confirmed  by  profane  history, 
even  where  it  seems  to  clash  with 
known  Jewish  prejudices.  Danced 
before  them — From  what  is  known 
of  the  state  of  morals  -in  oriental 
courts,  and  especially  the  morals 
of  many  of  rbe  Herods,  it  may  be 
inferred  that  the  dancing  of  Salome 


CHAPTER   XIV. 


181 


with  an  oath  to  give  her  what- 
soever she  would  ask. 

8  And  she,  being  before  in- 
structed of  her  mother,  said, 
Give  me  here  John  Baptist's 
head  in  a  charger. 

9  And  the  king  was  sorry  : 
nevertheless  for  the  oath's 
sake,  and  them  which  sat  with 
him  at  meat,  he  commanded  it 
to  be  given  her. 


was  not  greatly  distinguished  for 
propriety.  She  danced  alone  be- 
fore all  the  court,  which  speaks 
poorly  for  her  modesty.  Herod  is 
sensual  enough  to  be  pleased  with 
it. 

8.  Before  instructed — Urged  on. 
Doubtless  Salome  was  instructed 
in  the  details ;  but  instructed  is  not 
strong  enough  to  express  the 
thought.  Herodias  was  the  moving 
spirit.  Hating  the  bold  reprover 
of  her  paramour,  she  stimulates  her 
daughter  to  demand  bis  head.  A 
lustful  and  murderous  mother,  and 
a  lustful,  murderous  daughter ! 
Herod  gave  the  order,  doubtless, 
under  the  influence  of  wine.  Few 
murders  are  committed  without  the 
stimulus  of  alcohol.  Before  such 
a  revelling  company,  John's  case 
could  have  had  little  chance  of  re- 
ceiving justice.  Charger  —  Plat- 
ter. 

9,  10.  Was  sorry  —  Not  sorry 
enough  to  break  the  oath ;  he  will 
sooner  murder  one  who  he  knows 
is  a  just  man  and  holy.  Mark  G  :  20. 
Which  sat  at  meat — He  feared  his 

drunken  courtiers  more  than  God ; 
desired  to  put  him  to  death,  yet 
sorry.  Such  was  his  vacillating 
state  of  mind.  He  shrunk  from  the 
precipice  to  which  his  oath  had  led 
him,  and  then  shrunk  from  dis- 
pleasing Herodias  and  his  courtiers. 
So,  after  about  eleven  months'  im- 
prisonment, God  takes  the  good 
man  up  to  heaven,  and  lets  Herod 
and  his  mistress  go  down  to  hell. 
16 


10  And  he  sent,  and  be- 
headed John  in  the  prison. 

1 1  And  his  head  was  brought 
in  a  charger,  and  given  to  the 
damsel :  and  she  brought  it  to 
her  mother. 

12  And  his  disciples  came, 
and  took  up  the  bod\r,  and 
buried  it,  and  went  and  told 
Jesus. 

13  %  When  Jesus  heard  of  it, 

11.  Brought  it  to  her  mother — 
Here  again  is  proof  that  the  mother 
had  been  the  chief  actor.  The 
painter  Guercino  has  represented 
the  scene  upon  canvas.  Even  the 
steel  engraving  by  Egleton  is  wor- 
thy of  study.  The  executioner, 
stripped  to  his  loins,  the  muscles 
of  the  back  and  arms  wonderfully 
developed,  stands  with  the  right 
arm  drawn  back,  as  if  not  yet  fully 
relaxed  from  its  unnatural  work, 
the  hand  still  clenching  the  sword ; 
and,  holding  in  his  left  hand,  by  a 
lock  of  the  hair,  the  head  of  the 
martyred  preacher,  is  letting  it  drop 
into  the  platter  held  by  Salome, 
who  looks  down  upon  it  with  inef- 
fable contempt.  Behind  the  daugh- 
ter stands,  by  the  license  of  art, 
the  mother,  with  contempt  even 
more  satanic  than  the  daughter's. 

12.  Took  up  the  body — The  cas- 
tle, the  place  of  which  was  identi- 
fied, in  1806,  with  ruins  found  on  a 
lofty  crag,  was  "  surrounded  by 
ravines,  at  some  points  not  less  than 
one  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet 
deep."  It  was  perhaps  in  one  of 
those  ravines  that  the  body  was 
found.  We  see  the  tenderness  of 
John's  disciples  toward  their  mas- 
ter, and  their  conviction  that  Jesus 
will  sympathize  in  their  grief.  All 
our  sorrows  should  be  laid  before 
Jesus. 

13.  The  news  of  John's  death 
was  brought  to  Jesus  at  or  near 
Capernaum.  Into  a  desert  place — 
Crossing    the   Sea  of   Galilee,   he 


182 


MATTHEW. 


he  departed  thence  by  ship  in- 
to a  desert  place  apart :  and 
when  the  people  had  heard 
thereof,  they  followed  him  on 
foot  out  of  the  cities. 

14   And  Jesus   went  forth, 
and  saw  a  great  multitude,  and 


lands  upon  the  eastern  shore.  It 
was  doubtless  the  desert  of  Beth- 
saida.  "Upon  the  east  side  lies 
the  rich  level  plain  of  Butaiha 
(Batihah),  forming  a  triangle,  of 
which  the  eastern  mountains  make 
one  side,  and  the  river  bank  and 
the  lake  shore  the  other  two.  This 
plain,  with  its  bordering  hills,  prob- 
ably belonged  to  Bethsaida."  The 
region  was  thinly  inhabited.  Here, 
in  the  southern  corner,  where  the 
mountain  met  the  sea,  it  is  believed 
the  miracle  of  feeding  the  five  thou- 
sand was  wrought.  "In  this  little 
cove,"  says  Thomson,  "the  ships 
(boats)  were  anchored.  On  this 
beautiful  sward,  at  the  base  of  the 
rocky  hill,  the  people  were  seated." 
How  strong  the  Lord's  hold  upon 
the  people !  How  affecting  that 
one  who  knew  so  well  how  to  prize 
a  few  hours  of  spiritual  compan- 
ionship with  those  who  loved  him 
should  not  be  permitted  to  have 
it!  "The  whole  distance  which 
the  people  had  to  travel  was  not 
more  than  six  or  eight  miles,  and, 
from  the  conformation  of  the  coast, 
could  be  as  rapidly  passed  by  those 
on  the  shore  as  those  in  the  boat." 
Concerning  the  location  of  Beth- 
saida, see  note  on  11 :  21.  Ship 
— By  ship  is  now  meant,  strictly 
speaking,  "a  vessel  with  three 
masts,  each  of  which  is  composed 
of  a  lower  mast,  a  top-mast,  and  top- 
gallant mast,  and  square-rigged," 
though  the  term  is  much  used  by 
persons  not  familiar  with  nautical 
affairs  for  any  kind  of  vessel  em- 
ployed in  navigation,  and  even  by 
English  statute  law  "  the  term 
ship  is  declared  to  comprehend 
every  description    of  vessel  navi- 


was  moved  with  compassion 
toward  them,  and  he  healed 
their  sick. 

15  f  And  when  it  was  even- 
ing, his  disciples  came  to  him, 
saying,  This  is  a  desert  place, 
and  the  time  is  now  past ;  send 


gating  the  sea."  The  ships,  as 
they  are  correctly  enough  called  in 
our  English  Bibles,  which  were 
used  on  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  were 
much  smaller  than  the  ships  that 
navigated  the  Mediterranean.  Some 
of  these  carried  several  hundred 
persons,  as  the  one  in  which  Jose- 
phus  was  wrecked.  Paul  was 
wrecked  in  a  ship  that  carried  two 
hundred  and  seventy-six,  "besides 
a  cargo  of  wheat."  There  are  data 
for  believing  that  ancient  ships 
were  from  five  hundred  to  one 
thousand  tons  each.  The  ship  in 
which  Jesus  now  embarked  was 
probably  not  much  larger  than  a 
modern  sail-boat.  Departed — With- 
drew from  the  more  public  region 
that  lay  on  the  western  side  of  the 
sea.  His  motive  may  have  been 
twofold, — to  avoid  all  intercourse 
with  Herod  (not,  however,  in  fear 
of  him,  for  he  very  soon  returned 
to  the  western  side,  to  the  region 
of  Herod's  capital),  and  (Mark  6: 
31)  to  secure  rest,  and,  doubtless, 
greater  spiritual  improvement  to 
the  disciples,  who  had  been  sepa- 
rated from  him  in  their  missionary 
work. 

14.  Went  forth — From  retirement 
on  the  mountains?  or  from  the 
ship  ?  Mark  (G  :  33)  says  that  the 
people  outwent  them,  and  came  to- 
gether unto  him.  The  going  forth 
was,  therefore,  from  the  ship. 

15,  16.  When  it  was  evening — 
And  yet,  in  vs.  23,  Jesus  is  repre- 
sented as  being  alone  in  the  moun- 
tain after  the  crowds  had  all  been 
fed,  when  the  evening  was  come. 
With  the  Jews,  every  day  had  two 
evenings,  the  former  and  the  latter, 
the  time  of  each  depending  on  the 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


183 


the  multitude  away,  that  they 
may  go  into  the  villages,  and 
buy  themselves  victuals. 

16  But  Jesus  said  unto  them, 
They  need  not  depart ;  give  }re 
them  to  eat. 

17  And  they  say  unto  him, 
We  have  here  but  five  loaves, 
and  two  fishes. 

18  He  said,  Bring  them  hith- 
er to  me. 

19  And  he  commanded  the 
multitude  to  sit  down  on  the 


season  of  the  year.  This  was  the 
early  evening;  that  mentioned  in 
vs.  23  was  the  later.  The  time — 
The  hour;  and  so  the  entire  phrase, 
the  time  is  now  past,  expresses  the 
lateness  of  the  hour.  The  Jews  di- 
vided the  day  into  twelve  hours, 
reckoning  from  sunrise  to  sunset. 
The  hours  were  unequal  in  length 
except  when  the  days  and  nights 
were  equal.  In  popular  language, 
the  third  hour,  for  example,  was 
at  nine  o'clock,  but  it  was  so  only  at 
the  equinoxes.  The  sixth  hour  was 
of  course  at  noon  at  all  seasons  of 
the  year.  To  determine  when  any 
given  hour  began  and  how  long  it 
was,  we  must  determine  at  what 
hour  the  sun  rose.  The  Jewish 
hour  was  ' '  the  twelfth  part  of  the 
natural  day,  or  of  the  time  between 
sunrise  and  sunset."  Need  not  de- 
part— The  power  of  Jesus  was  not 
dependent  on  locality. 

17.  "A  boy  carries  the  rations 
of  more  than  five  thousand  per- 
sons."— Dr.  Whedon.  See  John 
6:9:  There  is  a  lad  here,  which 
hath  five  barley  loaves  and  two 
small  fishes. 

19.  To  sit  down  —  To  recline. 
On  the  grass-  -It  was  spring.  Jesus 
was  not  uninterested  in  whatever 
would  add  to  their  comfort.  Con- 
cerning the  order  in  which  they 
sat,  nothing  is  here  said,  but  see 
Mark    6:   40;    Luke    9:    14.       He 


grass,  and  took  the  five  loaves, 
and  the  two  fishes,  and  looking 
up  to  heaven,  he  blessed,  and 
brake,  and  gave  the  loaves  to 
his  disciples,  and  the  disciples 
to  the  multitude. 

20  And  they  did  all  eat,  and 
were  filled :  and  they  took  up 
of  the  fragments  that  remained 
twelve  baskets  full. 

21  And  they  that  had  eaten 
were  about  five  thousand  men, 
beside  women  and  children. 


blessed — That  is,  the  loaves ;  Luke 
9 :  16.  He  asked  God's  blessing 
upon  them  as  means  of  continuing 
life,  and  this  implied  praise  of  the 
infinite  goodness  which  supplies  the 
wants  of  men.  Horace  Mann  was 
accustomed  to  ask  a  blessing  upon 
the  family  meal.  Theodore  Parker 
pronounced  the  act  as  "savoring  of 
hypocrisy."  The  Christian  that 
neglects  the  duty  might  blush  in 
the  presence  of  an  unchristian  Jew ; 
for  craving  the  blessing  of  God  upon 
the  daily  meal  Avas  a  Jewish  cus- 
tom. Ministers  of  Christ  are  not 
to  be  mere  receivers ;  the  knowl- 
edge which  they  obtain  from  the 
Bible  should  be  imparted  to  the 
multitude.  Ministers  of  scholarly 
habits  are  in  danger  of  selfishness 
in  the  prosecution  of  their  studies. 
20,  21.  They  did  all  eat— That 
is  a  singular  inference  which  was 
drawn  from  these  words  by  one  of 
the  most  sententious  of  commenta- 
tors (Bengel,  born  in  1687)  :  ':  How 
much  more  can  all  partake  of  the 
Lord's  one  body  in  his  supper." 
According  to  the  New  Testament, 
only  those  are  expected  to  partake 
of  the  Lord's  supper  who  have  been 
regenerated  and  baptized.  See 
the  latter  part  of  the  notes  on  28  : 
19,  concerning  the  relation  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  to  baptism.  Twelve 
baskets  full — The  fragments  exceed- 
ed, perhaps,  the   original    amount. 


184 


MATTHEW. 


22  %  And  straightway  Jesus 
constrained  his  disciples  to  get 
into  a  ship,  and  to  go  before 
him  unto  the  other  side,  while 
he  sent  the  multitudes  away. 

23  And  when  he  had  sent  the 
multitudes  away,  he  went   up 


Took  tip — Of  course  the  apostles 
carried  them  away.  These  frag- 
ments they  must  have  eaten  as 
their  future  wants  required.  Thus 
their  memory  and  their  gratitude 
would  be  quickened.  The  frag- 
ments might  have  been  left,  but 
that  would  not  have  been  to  the 
disciples  a  lesson  of  economy.  The 
entire  number  fed  could  not  have 
been  far  from  eight  thousand. 

The  primary  object  of  this  mira- 
cle, like  that  of  all  the  miracles, 
is  to  convince  men  that  Jesus  was 
authorized  to  come  as  the  Saviour 
of  the  world.  But,  like  all  the 
others,  it  teaches  us  many  impor- 
tant lessons  besides,  as  the  com- 
passion and  the  power  of  Christ. 
It  suggests  rich  thoughts  relative 
to  Christ  as  the  bread  of  spiritual 
life.  All  attempts  to  comprehend 
the  process  are  useless.  It  was 
not  a  creation  out  of  nothing.  He 
who  is  curious  to  know  at  what 
point  of  time  the  change  occurred, 
should  consider  that  we  have  no  in- 
formation on  the  subject. 

22.  Jesus  makes  another  effort 
to  secure  retirement.  He  is  the 
more  desirous  to  be  alone,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  effect  which  the  mir- 
acle has  produced  upon  the  people. 
Their  enthusiasm  rises  into  a  pur- 
pose to  seize  him,  however  unwill- 
ing, and  proclaim  him  king.  John 
6  :  15.  Constrained  —  The  disci- 
ples had  been  so  unwilling  to  leave 
him,  that  more  than  a  mere  request 
was  necessary.  The  other  side — 
The  western  side  of  the  lake.  The 
people  would  more  willingly  depart 
after  the  disciples  had  been  sent 
away.  Spiritual  union  is  possible 
without  bodily  association. 


into  a  mountain  apart  to  pray: 
and  when  the  evening  was 
come,  he  was  there  alone. 

24  But  the  ship  was  now  in 
the  midst  of  the  sea,  tossed 
with  waves  :  for  the  wind  was 
contrary. 

23.  A  mountain — The  mountain, 
that  is,  one  of  the  mountains  re- 
ferred to  in  the  note  on  vs.  13,  as 
constituting  one  side  of  the  plain. 
The  evening — The  later  evening. 
To  pray — Not  to  confess  sin,  though 
confession  is  a  very  important  part 
of  prayer  when  offered  by  us. 
To  conceive  of  Jesus  as  praying 
only,  or  chiefly, to  set  us  an  example, 
misses  the  great  truth  that  prayer, 
as  communion  with  the  Infinite 
Spirit,  is  felt  even  by  a  sinless  be- 
ing to  be  the  normal  state  of  the 
soul.  Neither  secret  communion 
with  God  nor  vigorous  out-door 
work  should  be  neglected.  Let  him 
who  desires  to  be  always  in  society, 
consider  how  different  is  his  choice 
from  that  of  Jesus.  Solitude  is 
needful  to  prevent  the  bad  effects 
of  necessary  intercourse  with  the 
world.  He  who,  like  Isaac,  medi- 
tates alone,  will  soon,  like  Isaac,  find 
a  friend  to  whom  he  can  be  joined  in 
heart, — the  marriage  of  spirit  with 
spirit ;  Christ  the  husband,  himself 
the  bride.  Solitude  may  be  the 
hot-house  of » sin.  One  may  go  in- 
to the  mountain  to  pray,  but  take 
the  multitude  with  him. 

24.  The  obedience  of  the  disci- 
ples brings  them  into  peril.  In  the 
midst — They  had  rowed  about  five 
and  twenty  or  thirty  furlongs.  John 
G  :  19.  They  seemed  to  have  aimed 
for  Bcthsaida,  near  the  entrance  of 
the  Jordan,  where,  perhaps,  they 
hoped  to  take  in  Jesus,  but  were 
driven  south-westerly  toward  the 
centre  of  the  lake.  Tossed — Vexed, 
as  in  2  Peter  2:8;  for  that  right- 
eous man  .  .  .  vexed  his  righteous 
soul,  etc. 

25.  Fourth  watch — "  The   Jews, 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


185 


25  And  in  the  fourth  watch 
of  the  night  Jesus  went  unto 
them,  walking  on  the  sea. 

26  And  when  the  disciples 
saw  him  walking  on  the  sea, 
they  were  troubled,  saying,  It 
is  a  spirit ;  and  they  cried  out 
for  fear. 

27  But  straightway  Jesus 
spake   unto  them,  saying,  Be 

like  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  di- 
vided the  night  into  military  watch- 
es instead  of  hours,  each  watch 
representing  the  period  for  which 
sentinels  or  pickets  remained  on 
duty.  The  proper  Jewish  reckon- 
ing recognized  only  three  such 
watches,  entitled  the  first  or  'begin- 
ning of  the  watches,'  the  middle 
watch,  and  the  morning  watch. 
These  would  last  respectively  from 
sunset  to  10  P.  M.,  from  10  P.  M. 
to  2  A.  M.,  and  from  2  A.  M.  to 
sunrise.  .  .  .  Subsequently  to  the 
establishment  of  the  Roman  suprem- 
acy, the  number  of  watches  was 
increased  to  four,  which  were  de- 
scribed either  according  to  their 
numerical  order,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  fourth  watch,  or  by  the  terms 
'even,  midnight,  cock-crowing,  and 
morning.'  These  terminated  re- 
spectively at  9  P.  M.,  midnight,  3 
A.  M.,  and  6  A.  M."  Walking  on 
the  sea — By  the  sea,  says  rational- 
ism. But  in  that  case  would  the 
disciples  have  been  so  troubled?  and, 
since  the  ship  was  more  than  half 
way  across,  must  not  'Peter  have 
had  supernatural  strength  of  voice 
to  be  heard  by  Jesus  three  miles  or 
more  ;  or  Jeius  have  had  supernatu- 
ral power  of  hearing  to  hear  Peter, 
on  either  of  which  suppositions  we 
have  a  miracle?  Besides,  the  ra- 
tionalistic interpretation  implies 
that  Peter  undertook  to  walk  on  the 
water  three  miles,  which  is  a  bolder 
thing  than  even  Peter  ever  under- 
took to  do.  We  cannot  think,  with 
some  evangelical  interpreters,  that 
16* 


of  good  cheer  ;  it  is  I ;  be  not 
afraid. 

28  And  Peter  answered  him 
and  said,  Lord,  if  it  be  thou, 
bid  me  come  unto  thee  on  the 
water. 

29  And  he  said,  Come.  And 
when  Peter  was  come  down 
out  of  the  ship,  he  walked  on 
the  water,  to  go  to  Jesus. 


"  the  walking  on  the  sea  was  a  mo- 
mentary manifestation  of  a  spiritual 
power  inherent  in  the  body  of 
Christ."  We  see  no  reason  for  sup- 
posing that  the  body  of  Jesus,  be- 
fore his  resurrection,  was  different 
from  that  of  any  other  human  be- 
ing. The  miracle  shows  that  Jesus 
could  control  matter  by  the  exercise 
of  his  will. 

26.  It  is  a  spirit — A  ghost.  Un- 
der the  tuition  of  Jesus,  these  men 
will  yet  become  free  from  the  de- 
gree of  superstition  which  still 
cleaves  to  them.  When  Jesus  ap- 
pears to  us  in  any  uncommon  man- 
ner, as  sickness,  loss  of  a  friend,  or 
failure  in  business,  we  are  in  dan- 
ger of  mistaking  him  for  an  evil 
spirit.  Faith  keeps  the  vision  clear. 
All  things  work  together  for  good 
to  them  that  love  God.  Rom.  8 : 
28. 

27,  28.  Straightway  —  Immedi- 
ately. Jesus  does  not  permit  his 
people  to  continue  long  in  doubt  re- 
specting himself.  It  is  /—Infinite 
consolation  in  the  smallest  com- 
pass. If  it  be  thou — That  rings 
like  genuine  coin,  but  notice  that 
Peter  asks  the  Lord  to  hid  him 
come.  It  is  better  to  stay  in  the  ship 
till  Jesus,  without  any  of  our  hint- 
ing, says  Come.  Faith  lets  Christ 
speak  the  first  word. 

29.  Come — When  this  word  falls 
from  the  lips  of  infinite  love,  it  is 
such  a  foundation  for  faith  that  the 
vilest  need  not  hesitate  to  build 
thereon.  One  may  do  what  to  the 
reason  may  seem  the  most  absurd 


186 


MATTHEW. 


30  But  when  he  saw  the 
wind  boisterous,  he  was  afraid  ; 
and  beginning  to  sink,  he  cried, 
saying,  Lord,  save  me. 

31  And  immediately  Jesus 
stretched  forth  his  hand,  and 
caught  him,  and  said  unto  him, 
O  thou  of  little  faith,  where- 
fore didst  thou  doubt? 

32  And  when  they  were  come 
into  the  ship,  the  wind  ceased. 


of  all  things,  if  one  has  heard  the 
voice  of  Jesus,  saying,  Come  !  To 
go  to  Jesus — Though  Peter's  spirit 
was  defective,  the  direction  was 
right. 

30.  He  was  afraid — Then  faith 
is  more  than  an  act  of  the  under- 
standing. Peter's  intellect  assented 
as  strongly  to  his  Master's  word 
when  he  was  sinking  as  when  he 
was  walking.  The  difficulty  was 
not  in  his  intellect,  but  in  his  heart. 
He  assented,  but  he  did  not  trust. 
Faith,  then,  is  the  reliance  of  the 
heart  as  well  as  the  assent  of  the 
intellect.  Beginning  to  sink  — 
Christ  withdraws  his  strength  that 
Peter  may  be  weaned  from  self- 
reliance.  He  must  learn  to  pray. 
He  had  set  off  on  his  perilous  walk 
without  prayer.  Lord,  save  me — 
Now  he  prays  from  a  deeper  place 
in  more  senses  than  one  than  he 
had  ever  prayed  from  before.  It  is 
the  cry  of  a  soul  struggling  to  give 
birth  to  faith  ;  but  he  does  not  trust 
even  in  his  faith.  When  rising  to 
the  divinest  height,  faith  loses  the 
consciousness  of  its  own  existence 
in  its  grasp  of  the  strength  of 
Christ.  The  wind  boisterous — See 
note  on  8  :  24,  first  paragraph.  Pe- 
ter was  a  swimmer  (John  21 :  7), 
but  swimming  back  to  the  ship,  or 
calling  upon  his  fellow-disciples  for 
help,  seems  not  to  have  been  thought 
of.    He  must  rely  wholly  on  Christ. 

31,  32.  Of  little  faith— This  was 
better  than  none,  yet  more  would 
have  been  better.     The  wind  ceased 


33  Then  they  that  were  in 
the  ship  came  and  worshipped 
him,  saying,  Of  a  truth  thou 
art  the  Son  of  God. 

34  %  And  when  they  were 
gone  over,  they  came  into  the 
land  of  Gennesaret. 

35  And  when  the  men  of  that 
place  had  knowledge  of  him, 
they  sent  out  into  all  that 
country     round      about,     and 

—  Perhaps  a  miracle.  But  com- 
pare it  with  the  case  already  ex- 
amined, 8  :  26  :  Then  he  arose  and 
rebuked  the  winds  and  the  sea;  and 
there  was  a  great  calm.  George 
Borrow,  in  his  "Bible  in  Spain," 
speaks  of  a  remarkable  and  instan- 
taneous change  of  wind  off  Cape 
Finisterre,  by  which  the  ship  that 
was  just  striking  against  the  rocks 
was  driven  out  into  the  open  sea 
and  saved  from  destruction.  That, 
however,  was  natural ;  this  was 
supernatural.  Were  come  —  Had 
come,  or  had  entered. 

33.  Here  the  reference  is  proba- 
bly to  the  sailors.  Worshipped — 
More  than  an  act  of  reverence,  in 
this  case.  So  impressed  are  the 
men  that  they  exclaim,  Of  a  truth 
thou  art  the  Son  of  God.  How 
much  these  sailors  meant  by  the 
words,  Son  of  God,  it  is  difficult  to 
say.  In  the  Greek  there  is  no  arti- 
cle. Thou  art  God's  Son  is  the 
true  rendering.  It  is  probable  that 
they  conceived  of  him  not  as  the 
Messiah,  but  as  a  being  of  more 
than  human  power.  See  note  on 
1G  :  15-17.  There  Peter  confesses, 
Thou  art  the  Soti  of  the  living 
God. 

31.  Were  gone — Having  passed. 
The  land  of  Gennesaret — A  beauti- 
ful plain  on  the  western  side  of  the 
Sea  of  Galilee,  about  four  miles 
long  and  two  and  a  half  broad. 
Josephus  gives  a  very  glowing  and 
probably  exaggerated  description  of 
the    region.      "  No    less  than  four 


CHAPTER   XV. 


187 


brought    unto    nim    all    that 
were  diseased ; 

36  And  besought  him  that 
they  might  only  touch  the  hem 
of  his  garment :  and  as  many 
as  touched  were  made  perfectly 
whole. 


springs,"  says  Stanley,  "  pour  forth 
their  almost  full-grown  rivers 
through  the  plain ;  the  richness  of 
the  soil  displays  itself  in  magnifi- 
cent cornfields ;  whilst  along  the 
shore  rises  a  thick  jungle  of  thorn 
and  oleander,  abounding  in  birds 
of  brilliant  colors  and  various  forms  ; 
the  whole  producing  an  impression 
such  as  to  the  traveller  of  modern 
days  recalls  instantly  the  valley  of 
the  Nile.  .  .  .  The  plain  of  Gennes- 
areth  became  the  home  of  Christ. 
.  .  .  Few  scenes  have  undergone 
a  greater  change.  Of  all  the  numer- 
ous towns  and  villages  in  what  must 
have  been  the  most  thickly  peopled 
district  of  Palestine,  only  one  re- 
mains." 

35,  3G.  Had  knowledge  of  him, — 
But  they  must  have  known  him  be- 
fore. They  now  know  of  his  return. 
The  effect  of  his  return  shows  that 
he  had  attained  very  strong  hold  of 
the  people.  As  has  been  remarked 
by  others,  he  is  now  at  the  beight 
of  his  popularity.  From  Capernaum 
the  people  send  to  all  the  country 
roundabout,  and  the  sick  are  brought 
in  great  number.  The  hem  of  his 
garment — Compare  9:  20,  21,  and 
see  the  notes. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

DEBATE  WITH  PHARISEES  FROM  THE 
CAPITAL  ;  HEALS  A  GENTILE  IN  THE 
GENTILE  WORLD  ;  FEEDS  FOUR 
THOUSAND. 

783  U.C.    Summer,  A.M.  29. 

1.  The  Passover  had  probably 
been  held.  Those  who  had  gone 
from  Galilee  to  attend  it  had  doubt- 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THEN  came  to  Jesns  scribes 
and  Pharisees,  which  were 
of  Jerusalem,  saying, 

2  Wiry  do  thy  disciples  trans- 
gress the  tradition  of  the  el- 


less  made  the  Lord's  works  and 
words  the  subject  of  conversation 
in  the  capital.  The  Pharisees  must 
have  been  alarmed  at  the  evidences 
of  his  hold  upon  the  people.  As  he 
had  not  attended  the  feast,  a  depu- 
tation is  sent  by  the  scribes  and 
Pharisees  to  the  north  to  watch  him 
and  procure  evidence  against  him. 
The  men  selected  go  with  that  pe- 
culiar intensity  of  spirit  which  is 
apt  to  characterize  partisans  in  the 
great  centres  of  population.  Some 
think  the  allusion  is  to  Pharisees 
who  had  returned  home  from  Jeru- 
salem. Scribes — See  note  on  5  :  20. 
Pharisees— See  note  on  3  :  7. 

2.  They  find  him  in  Capernaum, 
and  soon  have  an  opportunity  to  as- 
sail him  at  what  they  consider  a 
vulnerable  point.  Elders — This 
term  was  at  first  used  to  designate 
persons  of  considerable  age,  and  as 
such  persons  would  naturally  be 
selected  for  an  important  office,  it 
was  afterwards  used  in  an  official 
sense.  "Wherever  a  patriarchal 
system  is  in  force,  the  office  of  the 
elder  will  be  found  as  the  keystone 
of  the  social  and  political  fabric :  it 
is  so  at  the  present  day  among  the 
Arabs,  where  the  sheikh  (=  the  old 
man)  is  the  highest  authority  in  the 
tribe."  In  the  earlier  period  of  Jew- 
ish history,  "their  authority  was 
undefined,  and  extended  to  all  mat- 
ters concerning  the  public  weal." 
Some  of  the  members  of  the  Sanhe- 
drim, in  the  time  of  Christ,  were 
selected  from  the  ciders,  but  as  a 
body  the  elders  were  distinct  from 
the  Sanhedrim.  In  spirit,  they 
were  one  with  the  scribes  and  Phar- 
isees. In  this  verse,  the  word  has 
reference  both  to  time  and  onice; 


.183 


MATTHEW. 


ders?  for  they  wash  not  their 
hands  when  they  eat  bread. 

3  But  he  answered  and  said 
unto  them,  Why  do  ye  also 
transgress  the  commandment 
of  God  by  your  tradition  ? 

4  For  God  commanded,  say- 
ing, Honor    thy    father     and 

that  is,  it  refers  to  elders  of  former 
time9.  Tradition — See  note  on 
Pharisees,  3 :  7,  to  which  may  be 
added :  The  Talmud  is  a  book  in  the 
Hebrew  language,  consisting  of  two 
parts,  The  Mishna  and  the  Gemara. 
The  Mishna  consists  of  Jewish  tra- 
ditions, and  was  written  by  a  wealthy 
and  influential  Jew  of  the  second 
century.  The  Gemara  is  a  Com- 
mentary on  the  Mishna.  Many  of 
the  traditions  were  believed  to  have 
been  given  by  God  to  Moses, and  from 
Moses  to  have  descended  orally  to 
others.  Some  were  traceable  to  the 
decisions  of  wise  men.  The  Talmud 
is  proof  of  the  depth  to  which  the 
Pharisees  had  fallen  in  their  ritual- 
ism. That  the  oil  for  lighting  the 
Sabbath  might  not  be  boiled  suet, 
that  it  might  be  oil  of  radish  seed ; 
that  if  a  bird  which  was  neither  to 
be  eaten  nor  killed  laid  an  egg  on  a 
festival,  the  egg  was  not  to  be  eaten  ; 
that  an  animal  ought  not  to  be  eaten 
unless  slaughtered  by  a  Jew ;  that 
eating  and  drinking  with  "people 
of  the  land"  was  defiling;  that  a 
Jew  ought  not  to  pay  a  debt  to  one 
who  was  not  a  Jew,  "three  days  be- 
fore any  heathen  festival,  just  as  if 
a  debtor  had  any  business  to  meddle 
with  the  question  of  how  his  credi- 
tor might  spend  his  own  money," — 
were  among  the  cherished  traditions 
of  the  Pharisees. 

Wash  not  their  hands — "As 
knives  and  forks  were  dispensed 
with  in  eating,  it  was  absolutely 
necessary  that  the  hand,  which  was 
thrust  into  the  common  dish,  should 
be  scrupulously  clean."  The  fre- 
quent washing  which  was  therefore 
necessary  became  through  the  mor- 


mother  :  and,  He  that  curseth 
father  or  mother,  let  him  die 
the  death. 

5  But  3^e  say,  Whosoever 
shall  say  to  his  father  or  his 
mother,  It  is  a  gift,  by  whatso- 
ever thou  mightest  be  profited 
by  me; 


bid  scrupulousness  of  the  Pharisees 
a  ritualistic  act,  "  and  special  rules 
were  laid  down  as  to  the  times  and 
manner  of  its  performance."  For 
aught  we  know  the  disciples  were  as 
cleanly  in  their  habits  as  the  Phari- 
sees, but  in  part,  at  least,  through 
the  influence  of  Jesus,  they  had 
ceased  to  wash  their  hands  as  an  act 
of  religious  importance.  Of  this 
these  hypocrites  from  Jerusalem 
complain.  It  is  doubtless  a  criticism 
upon  Jesus  rather  than  upon  the 
disciples.  Unlike  a  well-known 
commentator,  we  believe  they  were 
"  designedly  lying  in  wait  for  him." 
No  such  practice  was  required,  but 
"  so  rigidly  did  the  Jews  observe  it, 
that  Rabbn  Akiba,  being  imprisoned, 
and  having  water  scarcely  sufficient 
to  sustain  life  given  him,  preferred 
dying  of  thirst  to  eating  without 
washing  his  hands."  How  intense 
is  the  bigotry  of  ritualism ! 

3.  You  also — He  does  not  deny 
the  charge,  but  makes  a  heavier 
charge  against  them,  the  nature  of 
it  implying  the  complete  exonera- 
tion of  the  disciples.  By  your  tra- 
dition— For  the  sake  of.  It  refers 
to  motive,  not  to  means. 

4.  God  commanded,  saying — In 
Ex.  20:  12;  21:  17.  Men  who  af- 
fect to  despise  the  Old  Testament 
may  here  see  that  Jesus  regarded  it 
as  the  authoritative  word  of  God. 
Die  the  death — Equivalent  to,  Let 
him  surely  die. 

5.  6.  But  ye  say — Notice  how  our 
Lord  contrasts  what  they  say  with 
what  God  says.  Gift— Mark  (7: 
11)  uses  the  word  Corban,  which  he 
explains  to  his  readers  by  this  word 
gift.     The  Mosaic  law  allowed  the 


CHAPTER  XV. 


189 


6  And  honor  not  bis  father 
or  his  mother,  he  shall  be  free. 
Thus  have  }re  made  the  com- 
mandment of  God  of  none  ef- 
fect by  your  tradition. 

7  Ye  hypocrites,  well  did 
Esaias  prophesy  of  you,  say- 
ing, 

8  This  people  draweth  nigh 
unto  me  with  their  mouth,  and 


consecration  of  things  to  sacred 
uses,  but  the  Pharisees,  as  in  so 
many  other  cases,  carried  the  prac- 
tice to  a  very  culpable  degree.  Cor- 
ban  implied  a  vow  not  to  use  the 
devoted  thing  for  one's  self;  the 
Pharisees  taught  that  the  consecra- 
tion of  a  thing  to  a  sacred  purpose 
forbade  using  it  for  the  benefit  of 
any  other  person.  Should  one  in  a 
fit  of  anger  indulge  in  "  incomplete 
exclamations,"  by  which  one,  so  to 
speak,  should  unintentionally  con- 
secrate an  article  of  property,  even 
these  were  held  to  be  binding,  and 
were  called  yathoth,  or  handles.  He, 
then,  who  wished  to  get  rid  of  help- 
ing a  needy  parent  could  take  refuge 
under  the  hypocritical  guise  of  piety. 
The  two  verses  may  be  rendered 
thus  :  But  ye  say,  Whoever  says  to 
his  father  or  his  mother,  It  is  a  gift, 
whatever  thou  mightest  be  profited 
with  from  me,  shall  not  honor  his 
father  or  his  mother ;  and  ye  have 
made  the  word  of  God  of  no  effect 
for  the  sake  of  your  tradition.  It 
may  be  expressed  freely  thus  :  But 
ye  say,  Whosoever  says  to  his  father 
or  his  mother,  That  by  which  I 
might  relieve  your  wants  has  been 
consecrated  to  religion, — such  a  man 
is  released  from  the  obligation  to 
relieve  them.  This  is  what  Jesus 
charges  the  Pharisees  as  saying. 
The  words  which  our  English  ver- 
sion supplies,  he  shall  be  free,  are 
not  needed.  A  tradition  may  ex- 
press a  truth ;  but  it  can  be  of  no 
authority,  for  it  is  not  a  part  of  the 
inspired  word.     Few  traditions  ex- 


honoreth  me  with  their  lips ; 
but  their  heart  is  far  from  me. 

9  But  in  vain  they  do  wor- 
ship me,  teaching/or  doctrines 
the  commandments  of  men. 

10  %  And  he  called  the  mul- 
titude, and  said  unto  them, 
Hear,  and  understand : 

11  Not  that  which  goeth  into 
the  mouth  defileth  a  man  ,*  but 

press  truth;  most  of  them  are  false- 
hoods. Traditions  abound  most  in 
those  bodies  which,  under  the  name 
of  churches,  are  built  upon  the  doc- 
trine of  mixed  membership.  Some 
may  be  found  lurking  in  the  purest 
churches. 

7-9.  Hypocrites — Concerning  the 
origin  and  meaning  of  the  word,  see 
note  on  6  :  2,  latter  part  of  the  last 
paragraph.  The  italicised  ye  in  our 
version  might  have  been  spared, 
which  would  have  made  it  more 
forcible.  Esaias — The  words  are 
quoted  from  29  :  13.  Draweth  nigh 
unto  one  with  their  mouth  and, 
though  genuine  in  Isaiah,  are  not 
supported  here  by  ancient  manu- 
scripts and  versions.  Prophesy  of 
you — Isaiah  said  this  of  his  hypo- 
critical contemporaries ;  the  Holy 
Spirit,  speaking  through  the  prophet, 
intended  they  should  be  applied  to 
hypocrites  of  all  times. 

10,  11.  He  now  discourses  of 
moral  uncleanness,  turning  from  the 
hypocritical  few  to  the  ignorant 
many.  Not  that — But  Moses  had 
been  authorized  by  God  himself  to 
make  a  distinction  between  different 
sorts  of  food.  The  swine,  the  owl, 
the  eagle,  etc. ,  were  forbidden.  Lev. 
11.  Does  Jesus,  then,  aim  to  bring 
these  divine  regulations  into  disfa- 
vor ?  Not  at  all.  He  would  teach 
the  multitude  their  spiritual  import. 
That  import  had  been  almost  wholly 
overlooked  by  the  people  as  well  as 
by  the  Pharisees. 

12.  Then camehis disciples — From 
Mark  (7 :  17)  we  learn  that  Jesus 


190 


MATTHEW. 


that  which  cometh  out  of  the 
mouth,  this  defileth  a  man. 

12  Then  came  his  disciples, 
and  said  unto  him,  Knowest 
thou  that  the  Pharisees  were 
offended,  after  they  heard  this 
saying? 

13  But  he  answered  and  said, 
Every  plant,  which  my  heav- 
enly Father  hath  not  planted, 
shall  be  rooted  up. 

14  Let  them  alone  :  they  be 
blind  leaders  of  the  blind.  And 
if  the  blind  lead  the  blind,  both 
shall  fall  into  the  ditch. 

15  Then  answered  Peter  and 
said  unto  him,  Declare  unto  us 
this  parable. 

16  And  Jesus  said,  Are  ye  al- 
so yet  without  understanding  ? 


and  the  disciples  had  withdrawn 
from  the  people  into  a  house.  It 
was  there  the  question  was  asked. 
Christians,  especially  ministers, 
should  beware  of  the  danger,  in 
these  times  of  boastful  and  spurious 
liberality,  of  withholding  or  diluting 
the  offensive  truths  of  the  gospel. 
Thorough  preaching,  though  with 
less  striking  immediate  results, 
should  be  the  motto. 

13,  14.  Our  Lord's  reply  is  two- 
fold :  1.  He  assures  his  disciples,  in 
figurative  language,  that  all  false 
doctrine  shall  be  destroyed.  Errors 
do  not  contain  in  themselves  the 
elements  of  self-destruction.  Like 
sin  they  are  self-perpetuating.  Both 
sin  and  error  are  like  witch-grass. 
But  God  has  decreed  that  error  shall 
at  last  be  rooted  out  of  the  earth. 
2.  He  affirms  that  it  is  unnecessary 
for  the  disciples  to  engage  in  active, 
personal  hostility  against  the  men 
themselves.  The  people  are  blind, 
and  their  spiritual  guides  are  blind. 
Retributive  justice  will  overtake 
tuem.  Both  shall  fall — Similarity 
in  the  nature,  not  in  the  degree,  of 


17  Do  not  ye  yet  understand, 
that  whatsoever  entereth  in  at 
the  mouth  goeth  into  the  belly, 
and  is  cast  out  into  the 
draught? 

18  But  those  things  which 
proceed  out  of  the  mouth  come 
forth  from  the  heart ;  and  they 
defile  the  man. 

19  For  out  of  the  heart  pro- 
ceed evil  thoughts,  murders, 
adulteries,  fornications,  thefts, 
false  witness,  blasphemies : 

20  These  are  the  things  which 
defile  a  man :  but  to  eat  witL 
unwashen  hands  defileth  not  a 
man. 

21  ^[Then  Jesus  went  thence, 
and  departed  into  the  coasts 
of  Tyre  and  Sidon. 

the  punishment  that  shall  overtake 
both,  is  taught. 

15,  16.  Declare— Explain.  What 
parable?  That  which  is  in  vs.  11, 
It  is  not  correct,  though  some  affirm 
it,  that  the  language  in  vs.  11  is 
plain.  It  is  figurative,  and  that  is 
the  reason  why  Peter,  using  the 
word  with  more  than  usual  latitude, 
calls  it  a  parable.  Dulness  of  un- 
derstanding should  not  be  unwilling 
to  expose  itself, — a  condition  neces- 
sary to  its  removal. 

17-20.  By  a  wise  provision,  even 
the  unnourishing  portion  of  what  is 
eaten  passes  away  without  in  the 
least  defiling  the  soul.  But  there  is 
such  a  thing  as  moral  pollution.  Its 
seat  is  in  the  heart,  the  disposition, 
and  it  proves  its  existence  there 
by  acts.  Thoughts  are  acts  of  the 
soul.  To  eat  with  unwashen  hands 
—That  is,  with  hands  which  have 
not  been  washed  as  a  religious  act, 
has  no  demoralizing  effect  upon  the 
man.  It  is  implied  throughout  the 
discourse  that  the  converse  is  true, 
— washing  the  hands  as  a  religious 
rite  pollutes  the  soul. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


191 


22.  And,  behold,  a  woman 
of  Canaan  came  out  of  the  same 
coasts,  and  cried  unto  him, 
saying,  Have  mercy  on  me,  0 
Lord,  thou  Son  of  David  ;  my 


21.  The  Lord  had  attained  very 
strong  hold  upon  the  people;  but 
the  plot  to  destroy  him  was  ripen- 
ing, and  according  to  John  (6  :  59, 
66),  even  many  of  those  who  had 
followed  him  were  so  displeased 
with  his  discourse  at  Capernaum, 
that  they  ceased  to  follow  him 
longer.  He  knew  that  he  must  yet 
visit  Jerusalem.  He  had  desired 
retirement  and  rest,  but  had  failed 
to  obtain  them.  He  withdraws 
therefore  from  the  populous  and  ex- 
posed region  on  the  western  side  of 
the  sea,  not  through  fear  of  his  ene- 
mies, but,  as  seems  probable,  for  the 
twofold  purpose  of  checking  for  a 
time  the  execution  of  their  murder- 
ous designs  and  securing  rest.  See 
Mark  7  :  24.  Went  thence — Proba- 
bly from  the  city  of  Capernaum, 
certainly  from  that  region.  Coasts 
— Region.  Tyre  and  Sidon — See 
notes  on  11 :  21,  third  paragraph. 
Let  the  student  keep  in  mind  that 
Jesus  has  now  entered  the  pagan 
world. 

22.  Behold — An  unusual  event, 
for  she  was  not  a  descendant  of 
Abraham ;  and,  besides,  Jesus  hav- 
ing withdrawn  from  the  populous 
part  of  Galilee,  Matthew  would  call 
special  attention  to  the  fact  that  he 
is  so  soon  accosted  by  an  applicant 
for  aid.  Of  Canaan — Canaan  was 
the  fourth  son  of  Ham.  His  de- 
scendants occupied  the  territory  be- 
tween the  Mediterranean  and  the 
Jordan.  But  the  term  Canaanite 
was  used  in  a  narrower  sense  to  in- 
dicate those  who  held  the  lower 
lands,  the  plains  of  that  territory, 
among  which  was  the  maritime 
plain  of  Phoenicia,  in  which  stood 
Tyre  and  Sidon.  Out  of  the  same 
coast — Out  from  those  borders.  O 
Lord,  thou  son  of  David — His  fame 


daughter  is  grievously  vexed 
with  a  devil. 

23  But  he  answered  her  not 
a  word.  And  his  disciples 
came  and  besought  him,  say- 


had  gone  forth  into  all  Syria.  She 
had  never  seen  him,  but  she  had 
such  confidence  in  his  power  and 
love,  that  she  should  be  regarded  as 
using  these  titles,  though  with  little 
knowledge  of  their  higher  spiritual 
meaning,  yet  with  more  than  mere 
respect.  Grievously  vexed — Pos- 
sessed. On  the  subject  of  posses- 
sion see  note  on  4  :  24.  On  me — 15ut 
it  was  not  herself  that  was  possessed, 
but  the  daughter.  It  is  a  beautiful 
remark  of  a  commentator  of  the  sev- 
enteenth century,  that  the  mother 
made  her  daughter's  malady  her 
own.  See  the  power  of  maternal 
sympathy.  The  Sabbath-school 
teacher  should  cherish  such  Chris- 
tian sympathy  with  the  impenitent 
members  of  his  class  as  to  be  able 
to  cry,  Have  mercy  on  me !  In  this 
respect  this  woman  of  Canaan  may 
serve  as  an  example  to  us  all. 

23.  Not  a  word — Yet  he  has  words 
for  her  behind  his  lips  which  wi  11  wing 
joy  to  her  heart.  The  silence  of 
Jesus  may  be  worth  infinitely  more 
than  the  loudest  promises  of  men. 
Send  her  away — Dismiss  her,  wheth- 
er by  hearing  her  request  or  reject- 
ing it  is  not  expressed,  but  it  seems 
probable  that  they  expected  Jesus 
would  send  her  away  with  the  bless- 
ing implored.  For  she  crieth  after 
us — There  is  nothing  in  these  words 
which  should  expose  the  disciples  to 
unfavorable  judgment.  The  disci- 
ples may  have  felt  that  by  thi3 
woman's  cries  their  Master's  desire 
for  retirement  was  in  danger  of  be- 
ing frustrated.  Dr.  S chaff  says  : 
"Jesus,  who  penetrated  into  the 
heart  of  the  disciples,  interprets 
their  request  as  an  intercession  in 
behalf  of  the  poor  woman  (vs.  24), 
which  agrees  better,  also,  «ritu  -heir 
natural  sympathy  and  chanty . ' 


192 


MATTHEW. 


ing,   Send  her  away ;  for  she 
crieth  after  us. 

24  But  he  answered  and 
said,  I  am  not  sent  but  unto 
the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of 
Israel. 

25  Then  came  she  and  wor- 
shipped him,  saying,  Lord, 
help  me.    . 

26  But  he  answered  and  said, 


24.  So  far  as  pertains  to  the  effect 
upon  the  woman,  it  is  all  the  same 
whether  these  words  were  addressed 
to  her  or  to  the  disciples.  She  over- 
heard them,  and  they  would  have 
been  the  knell  of  her  hopes,  had  she 
not  had  Abraham's  faith.  Sheep — 
A  beautiful  metaphor,  concerning 
the  meaning  of  which  the  Sabbath- 
school  teacher  ought  to  speak  to  his 
scholars  with  tender  interest.  Lost 
— Before  their  captivity  in  Babylon 
the  Jews  had  strayed  from  their 
Shepherd  into  the  ' '  great  and  terri- 
ble wilderness  "  of  idolatry.  The 
trials  of  the  captivity  reclaimed  them 
to  the  doctrine  of  the  unity  of  God, 
and  to  the  established  forms  of  the 
Mosaic  economy;  but  with  a  few 
exceptions  they  had  fallen  into  such 
a  spirit  of  ritualism  as  proved  them 
to  be  as  thoroughly  lost  as  when 
they  were  worshipping  Baal  and  As- 
tarte.  It  was  in  compassion  that 
Jesus  was  moved  to  confine  his  per- 
sonal efforts  chiefly  to  those  lost 
Jews,  that  thus,  in  part,  the  way 
might  be  prepared  for  the  recovery 
of  lost  Gentiles. 

25,  26.  Not  upon  any  encourag- 
ing word  is  her  prayer  based,  but 
upon  what  she  knows  of  his  charac- 
ter. In  the  reply  the  Lord's  object 
is  to  draw  out  the  woman's  faith, 
and  to  hold  it  up  to  the  view  of  the 
disciples  for  their  further  enlighten- 
ment relative  to  the  comprehensive- 
ness of  his  merciful  purpose,  and  to 
*lv?  view  of  all  his  disciples  in  all 
ft*OTe  ages.   Dogs — The  little  dogs, 

hat  is,  the  household  dogs.     It  is  a 


It  is  not  meet  to  take  the  chil- 
dren's bread,  and  to  cast  it  to 
dogs. 

27  And  she  said,  Truth, 
Lord  :  yet  the  dogs  eat  of  the 
crumbs  which  fall  from  their 
masters'  table. 

28  Then  Jesus  answered  and 
said  unto  her,  O  woman,  great 
is  thy  faith :    be  it  unto  thee 


singular  fact  that  while  the  dog  is 
considered  one  of  the  noblest  of  the 
irrational  animals,  the  term  is  used, 
as  it  was  in  the  days  of  our  Lord,  as 
a  term  of  contempt.  "Throughout 
the  whole  East  'dog'  is  a  term  of 
reproach  for  impure  and  profane 
persons,  and  in  this  sense  is  used 
by  the  Jews  respecting  the  Gentiles, 
and  by  Muhammedans  respecting 
Christians."  It  is  used  as  a  term 
"of  humility  in  speaking  of  one's 
self.  Knox  relates  a  story  of  a  no- 
bleman of  Ceylon,  who,  being  asked 
by  the  king  how  many  children  he 
had,  replied:  'Your  majesty's  dog 
has  three  puppies.'"  As  Jesus  used 
the  term,  it  doubtless  in  form  ex- 
pressed severity,  but  it  was  spoken 
in  love.  He  means  to  say  to  the 
woman  that  privileges  which  belong 
peculiarly  to  Jews  cannot  be  con- 
ferred upon  Gentiles. 

27.  Truth — Yea.  She  admits  it 
all.  She  knows  too  much,  is  too 
humble,  to  exalt  herself  to  a  level 
with  the  chosen  people.  Every 
word  of  her  reply  from  first  to  last 
is  a  crushing  blow  of  the .  logic 
wrought  in  her  heart  by  the  apparent- 
ly repelling  words  of  Jesus  himself: 
For  (yet),  thoupermittest  me  to  draw 
this  conclusion  from  thine  own 
premises ;  Dog,  I  am  one ;  Eat,  then 
I  may  eat;  Crumbs,  that  is  all  I 
want ;  Which  fall,  I  am  willing  to 
take  them  as  if  they  chanced  to  come 
to  me ;  Masters'  table,  God  is  my 
master,  and  so  I  may  believe  the 
crumbs  were  intended  for  me. 
Faith  makes   good  reasoners  con- 


CHAPTER   XV. 


193 


even  as  thou  wilt.  And  her 
daughter  was  made  whole  from 
that  very  hour. 

29  And  Jesus  departed  from 
thence,  and  came  nigh  unto  the 
sea  of  Galilee ;  and  went  up 
into  a  mountain,  and  sat  down 
there. 

30  And  great  multitudes 
came  unto  him,  having  with 
them  those  that  were  lame,  blind , 
dumb,  maimed,  and  many  oth- 
ers, and  cast  them  down  at 
Jesus'  feet ;  and  he  healed 
them : 

31  Insomuch  that  the  multi- 
tude wondered,  when  they  saw 
the  dumb  to  speak,  the  maimed 
to  be  whole,  the  lame  to  walk, 
and  the  blind  to  see  :  and  they 
glorified  the  God  of  Israel. 

32  %  Then  Jesus  called  his 
disciples  unto  him,  and  said, 
I  have  compassion  on  the  mul- 
titude, because  they  continue 
with  me  now  three  days,  and 
have   nothing   to   eat :    and  I 


cerning  divine  subjects.  A  humble 
heart  makes  a  clear  head.  The  logic 
of  infidelity  is  always  at  fault. 

28.  Great  is  thy  faith — O  thou  of 
little  faith,  to  a  son  of  Abraham  a 
few  days  before,  and  that  son  of 
Abraham  an  apostle,  and  that  apos- 
tle Peter!  Parents  persevering  in 
intercession  for  their  children  pleas- 
ing to  Christ. 

29.  From  thence — Prom  Phoeni- 
cia. Came  nigh  unto  the  Sea  of 
Galilee — He  went  to  the  sea  through 
the  midst  of  Decapolis  (Mark  7 :  31), 
which,  as  we  have  already  seen,  lay 
on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Jordan. 
But  he  could  have  reached  Decapo- 
lis by  a  northern  route,  crossing  the 
river  above  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  or 
by  a  southern  route,  crossing  below 

17 


will  not  send  them  away  fast- 
ing, lest  they  faint  in  the 
way. 

33  And  his  disciples  say 
unto  him,  Whence  should  we 
have  so  much  bread  in  the  wil- 
derness, as  to  fill  so  great  a 
multitude  ? 

34  And  Jesus  saith  unto 
them,  How  many  loaves  have 
ye?  And  they  said,  Seven, 
and  a  few  little  fishes. 

35  And  he  commanded  the 
multitude  to  sit  down  on  the 
ground. 

36  And  he  took  the  seven 
loaves  and  the  fishes,  and  gave 
thanks,  and  brake  them,  and 
gave  to  his  disciples,  and  the 
disciples  to  the  multitude. 

37  And  they  did  all  eat,  and 
were  filled  :  and  the}?-  took  up 
of  the  broken  meat  that  was 
left  seven  baskets  full. 

38  And  they  that  did  eat 
were  four  thousand  men,  be- 
side women  and  children. 


the  sea.  It  is,  on  the  whole,  proba- 
ble that  he  took  the  former.  The 
mountain  into  which  he  went  is  not 
known. 

30,31.  Great  multitudes — Chiefly, 
it  is  probable,  from  the  mountainous 
regions  on  this  eastern  side  of  the 
sea,  rather  than  from  cities  and  vil- 
lages on  the  western  side.  Maimed 
— Crippled  in  the  hands,  though  the 
word  is  sometimes  used  with  refer- 
ence to  the  limbs. 

32-38.  The  student  should  care- 
fully compare  this  account  with  that 
in  14 :  15-21 ;  for  it  has  been  said 
that  Matthew  has  made  the  blunder 
of  reporting  the  same  thing  twice, 
his  memory  failing  to  serve  him  in 
some  of  the  details.  It  has  also 
been  affirmed  that  this  is  a  forgery. 


194 


MATTHEW. 


39  And  he  sent  away  the 
multitude,  and  took  ship,  and 
came  into  the  coasts  of  Mag- 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  Pharisees  also  with  the 
Sadducees  came,  and  tempt- 


But  it  has  been  well  asked,  "  What 
could  any  one  gain  by  inventing  the 
account  of  Christ's  having  fed  four 
thousand,  when  he  had  already  fed 
five  thousand  ?  It  is  not  thus  that 
the  fictions  of  tradition  run.  If  we 
had  read  here  of  Christ  having  fed 
ten  thousand  with  one  loaf,  the 
probability  of  forgery  had  been 
greater."  It  has  been  thought  im- 
probable that  the  disciples  could  so 
soon,  after  the  feeding  of  the  five 
thousand,  have  doubted  whether  the 
wants  of  so  great  a  multitude  could 
be  supplied ;  but  it  should  be  con- 
sidered that  these  men  were  yet 
babes  in  knowledge  and  faith.  Many 
a  Christian  in  our  own  days  fears 
lest  bread  will  not  be  given  him  to 
the  end  of  life,  though  God  has 
given  it  to  him  every  day  for  fifty 
years.  But  it  is  by  no  means  cer- 
tain that  the  question  in  vs.  33 
should  be  considered  as  expressive 
of  doubt.  It  may  be  an  indirect  ex- 
pression of  expectation  that  Jesus 
will  himself  supply  their  wants  by  a 
miracle.  Notice  especially  vv.  9  and 
10  of  the  next  chapter,  in  which  Je- 
sus distinguishes  between  the  two 
miracles.  Scholars  have  also  re- 
marked that  in  the  account  of  the 
feeding  of  five  thousand,  the  word 
used  by  all  the  four  evangelists  for 
baskets  is  different  from  the  word 
used  by  Matthew  and  Mark  in  the 
account  of  the  four  thousand ;  and, 
what  is  very  striking,  Jesus  makes 
exactly  the  same  distinction  when 
referring  to  the  two  miracles  in  1G  : 
9,  10.  In  vs.  9  he  says,  of  the  five 
thousand,  and  how  many  cophini 


ing  desired  him  that  he  would 
shew  them  a  sign  from  heaven. 

2  He  answered  and  said  unto 
them,  When  it  is  evening,  ye 
say,  It  will  be  fair  weather  :  for 
the  sky  is  red. 

3  And  in  the  morning,  It 
will  be  foul  weather  to  day  :  for 
the  sky  is  red  and  lowering.  O 


(baskets)  ye  took  up.  In  vs.  10  he 
says,  of  the  four  thousand,  and  how 
many  spurides  (baskets)  ye  took 
up.  Matthew,  it  is  clear,  reports 
two  different  miracles. 

39.  Magdala — It  lay,  doubtless, 
on  the  western  side  of  the  sea,  and 
to  that  side  he  now  returns. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

A  SIGN  ASKED  ;  PETER  AND  HIS  FEL- 
LOW-APOSTLES CONFESS  CHRIST 
AS  THE  MESSIAH;  JESUS  FORE- 
TELLS  HIS   OWN   DEATH. 

782  U.C.    Summer,  A.I>.  29. 

1.  The  leaders  of  Jewish  thought 
cannot  suffer  Je'sus  to  remain  un- 
molested. A  combination  of  the 
Pharisees  and  the  Sadducees,  who 
(see  notes  on  3  :  7)  in  some  respects 
are  the  opposite  of  each  other,  is 
formed  against  him.  These  repre- 
sentatives of  rival  sects  found  him 
probably  at  Capernaum, — his  home. 
They  seem  to  have  gone  from  Jeru- 
salem, though  the  Pharisees  of  Gali- 
lee may  have  been  united  in  the 
plot.  Combinations  inform  against 
Christ,  of  parties  who  are  at  odds 
with  each  other,  is  a  stimulating  ex- 
ample to  evangelical  denominations 
to  combine  in  spirit,  even  if  they 
cannot  in  form,  for  Christ.  Tempt- 
ing him — Not  merely  putting  him 
to  the  test,  which  is  the  sense  which 
the  word  sometimes  has,  but  laying 
a  plan  to  entrap  him.  They  wish  to 
bring  his  claim  as  a  divine  teacher 
into  disrepute.  Demanding  a  sign 
from  heaven  was  their  way  of  affirm- 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


195 


ye  hypocrites,  ye  can  discern 
the  face  of  the  sky  ;  but  can  ye 
not  discern  the  signs  of  the 
times  ? 

4  A  wicked  and  adulterous 
generation  seeketh  after  a  sign  ; 
and  there  shall  no  sign  be  given 
unto  it,  but  the  sign  of  the 
prophet  Jonas.  And  he  left 
them,  and  departed. 

5  And    when  his   disciples 


ing  that  his  claims  had  no  founda- 
tion in  truth.  A  sign  from  heaven 
— A  sign  wrought  further  off,  in  the 
heavens,  in  distinction  from  one 
wrought  near  at  hand,  upon  the 
earth.  See  1  Cor.  1:  22.  They 
seem  to  have  held  that  while  an  im- 
postor might  work  miracles  near  to 
himself,  he  could  not  work  them  far 
off  in  the  skies.  Faith  accepts  the 
signs  which  God  has  seen  fit  to  give 
in  Christ. 

2,  3.  Fair  weather !  foul  weather ! 
is  more  vivacious  than,  It  will  be 
fair  .  .  .  foul.  Cam  discern — Kno:v 
how  to  discern.  The  signs  of  the 
times — Some  say,  "of  times  gener- 
ally. The  Jews  had  been,  and  were, 
most  blind  to  the  signs  of  the  times 
at  all  the  great  crises  of  their  his- 
tory; and  also  particularly  to  the 
times  in  which  they  were  then  liv- 
ing. The  sceptre  had  departed  from 
Judah,  the  lawgiver  no  longer  came 
forth  from  between  his  feet,  the  pro- 
phetic weeks  of  Daniel  were  just  at 
their  end  :  yet  they  discerned  none 
of  these  things."  Evening  .  .  .fair 
weather  .  .  .  sky  red — It  is  fanciful 
to  consider  these  expressions  as 
symbolizing  ^lie  ending  of  the  old 
dispensation;  and  /b»Z  weather  .  .  . 
the  sky  red  and  lowering,  though  the 
beginning  of  the  new  era,  as  indi- 
cating the  storm  that  was  about  to 
descend  upon  Israel.  The  thought 
is  this,  that  persons  who  are  so  ac- 
customed to  notice  weather-signs 
ought  to  be  able  to  see  the  spiritual 
signs  of  the  times. 


were  come  to  the  other  side, 
they  had  forgotten  to  take 
bread. 

6  %  Then  Jesus  said  unto 
them,  Take  heed  and  beware 
of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees 
and  of  the  Sadducees. 

7  And  they  reasoned  among 
themselves,  saying,  It  is  be- 
cause we  have  taken  no  bread. 

8  Which  when    Jesus  per- 


4.  See  note  on  12  :  39,  40.  Left 
them — They  would  have  protracted 
their  attempt,  had  he  permitted  it. 
As  has  been  suggested,  there  may 
have  been  something  retributive  in 
the  sudden  manner  in  which  he 
seems  to  have  left  them.  He  is  per- 
fectly aware  that  the  plot  laid  for 
his  death  is  thickening.  Dejjarted — 
To  the  other  side  of  the  Sea  of  Gal- 
ilee. He  went  in  a  ship.  Mark  8 : 
13. 

5.  Had  forgotten  to  take  bread  — 
The  original  does  not  enable  us  to 
determine  whether  they  forgot  to 
take  bread  before  they-  sailed,  or 
after  they  landed  before  proceeding 
further.  Mark  (8 :  14)  says,  Nei- 
ther had  they  in  the  shiji  with  them 
more  than  one  loaf.  Forgotten— 
This  implies  that  they  generally 
took  bread.  The  Lord  was  not 
prodigal  in  the  use  of  his  miracu- 
lous powers. 

6.  Being  now  alone  with  the  dis- 
ciples, he  embraces  the  opportunity 
to  fortify  them  against  the  influence 
of  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees. 
Leaven — See  note  on  the  parable  of 
the  leaven,  13  :  33.  In  Luke  12  :  1 
the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees  is  de- 
fined as  hypocrisy ;  but  see  note  on 
vs.  12. 

7.  8.  Among  themselves — Imply- 
ing that  they  conversed  with  one  an^- 
other.  Little  faith — Their  failure 
to  understand  him  was  not  so  much 
through  dulness  of  intellect  as 
through  weakness  of  faith.  Strong 
faith  is  the  mother  of  quick  under- 


196 


MATTHEW. 


ceived,  he  said  unto  them,  O  ye 
of  little  faith,  why  reason  ye 
among  }Tourselves,  because  ye 
have  brought  no  bread  ? 

9  Do  ye  not  yet  understand, 
neither  remember  the  five 
loaves  of  the  five  thousand,  and 
how  many  baskets  ye  took  up  ? 

10  Neither  the  seven  loaves 
of  the  four  thousand,  and  how 
many  baskets  ye  took  up  ? 

11  How  is  it  that  }^e  do  not 


standing.  How  little  anxiety  the 
Lord  showed  concerning  his  physi- 
cal wants,  but  how  much  solicitude 
that  these  men,  who  were  to  be  the 
founders  of  his  kingdom,  should  be 
men  of  faith  and  knowledge  ! 

9,  10.  He  reminds  them  of  the 
two  great  miracles  of  feeding,  to 
show  them  how  easily  their  wants 
can  be  supplied.  Baskets — See  the 
latter  part  of.  the  note  on  vv.  32-38 
of  chap.  15.  It  was  not  uncommon 
for  a  Jew  when  about  to  travel  to 
take  a  basket  with  him. 

12.  Doctrine — Teaching.  Jesus 
did  not  condemn  all  that  the  Phari- 
sees and  Sadducees  taught.  He  con- 
demned all  that  they  taught  contra- 
ry to  Moses  or  himself.  It  was 
leaven  :  it  was  corrupting. 

We  have  arrived  at  a  very  im- 
portant turn  in  our  Lord's  life.  Hith- 
erto he  has  displayed  the  evidence 
of  his  Messiahship  by  his  miracles 
and  teachings,  but  has  not  distinctly 
avowed  his  Messiahship  even  to  his 
disciples.  That  he  is  to  suffer  and 
die  he  has  not  clearly  intimated 
even  to  the  most  confidential  of  his 
followers.  He  has  been  perfectly 
aware,  however,  of  the  increasing 
prejudice  and  hostility  against  him 
at  the  capital,  and  knows  that  the  time 
is  not  far  distant  when,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  eternal  plan,  he  will 
be  called  to  surrender  his  life.  In 
his  infinite  wisdom,  he  deems  the 


understand  that  I  spake  it  not 
to  3*ou  concerning  bread,  that 
3'e  should  beware  of  the  leaven 
of  the  Pharisees  and  of  the 
Sadducees  ? 

12  Then  understood  they 
how  that  he  bade  them  not  be- 
ware of  the  leaven  of  bread, 
but  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Phar- 
isees and  of  the  Sadducees. 

13  %  When  Jesus  came  into 
the  coasts  of  Cesarea  Philippi, 


time  to  have  arrived  when  he  may 
put  the  disciples  fully  in  possession 
of  the  fact  of  his  Messiahship  and 
of  the  fact  that  he  must  die,  though, 
as  we  shall  see,  they  are  even  now 
poorly  prepared  to  receive  the  an- 
nouncement of  the  latter.  Hence- 
forth we  must  follow  him  as  em- 
phatically the  man  of  sorrows,  be- 
ginning to  be  wounded,  more  deeply, 
for  our  transgressions. 

13.  Into  the  coasts  of  Cesarea 
Philippi — From  Bethsaida  (Mark 
8:  22).  There  was  another  Cesa- 
rea, which  was  in  the  western  part 
of  Palestine,  on  the  Mediterranean 
shore,  and  which  is  often  mentioned 
in  the  Acts.  The  city  near  which 
our  Lord  now  comes  is  very  beau- 
tifully situated  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountains  of  Hermon,  at  the  east- 
ernmost of  the  streams  which  have 
been  usually  considered  as  consti- 
tuting the  source  of  the  Jordan. 
Here  were  the  palaces  of  Philip  the 
tetrarch.  Here  was  the  "  beautiful 
temple  of  white  marble  "  which  was 
built  by  his  father  Herod  in  honor 
of  Augustus  Caesar.  The  city  was 
once  called  Paneas,  in  honor  of  the 
heathen  god  Pan,  and  the  modern 
village  bears  the  name  Banias. 
"The  situation,"  says  Robinson,  "is 
unique ;  combining  in  an  unusual  de- 
gree the  elements  of  grandeur  and 
beauty.  It  nestles  in  its  recess  at 
the  southern  base  of  the  mighty  Her- 
mon, which  towers  in  majesty  to  an 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


197 


he  asked  his  disciples,  saying, 
Whom  do  men  say  that  I,  the 
Son  of  man,  am? 

14  And  they  said,  Some  say 
that  thou  art  John  the  Baptist ; 
some,  Elias  ;  and  others,  Jere- 
mias,  or  one  of  the  prophets. 


elevation  of  seven  or  eight  thousand 
feet  above."  It  is  not  certain  that 
Jesus  entered  into  the  city  itself, 
but  he  at  least  came  near  to  it.  He 
went  into  the  coasts  of  it, — into  the 
parts  adjacent  to  it.  Whether  he 
went  directly  from  Bethsaida  to 
Cesarea  Philippi  cannot  be  known. 
Whom  do  men  say  ?  etc. — Proposed, 
not  because  he  did  not  know,  but 
because  he  would  prepare  them  for 
the  important  words  which  are  to 
follow.  The  Son  of  man — See  note 
on  12  :  6,  8,  second  paragraph. 

14.  In  their  reply  they  give  the  cur- 
rent opinions.  Some,John  the  Bap- 
tist—SeeU:2.  Elias—  Elijah.  See 
note  on  11 :  14,  15.  All  these  classes 
seem  to  have  adopted  the  opinion 
that  Jesus  sustained  some  peculiar 
relation  to  the  expected  Messiah, 
that  of  a  forerunner  or  herald,  for 
example,  but  they  had  not  attained 
to  the  conviction  that  he  was  the 
Messiah  himself. 

15-17.  The  answer  to  the  impor- 
tant question  of  vs.  15  shows  what 
has  been  the  result  of  the  tuition 
under  which  the  disciples  have  been. 
Ignorant  though  they  still  are  in 
comparison  with  what  they  will  be- 
come, it  shows  what  spiritual  eleva- 
tion they  have  attained  in  compari- 
son with  either  the  people  generally, 
or  the  professional  teachers  or  re- 
ligion. Peter  answered  and  said — 
He  answered  for  his  fellow-disciples 
as  well  as  for  himself;  if  not,  we 
must  regard  the  others  as  shoAving 
their  Master  the  disrespect  of  not 
answering  at  all.  It  cannot  be 
doubted  that  they  considered  them- 
selves as  having  answered  through 
Peter.  This  is  important ;  for  Ro- 
manists insist  that  he  answered  only 
17* 


15  He  saith  unto  them,  But 
whom  say  ye  that  I  am  ? 

16  And  Simon  Peter  answer- 
ed and  said,  Thou  art  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living 
God. 

17  And  Jesus  answered  and 

for  himself.  Tliou  art  the  Christ — 
The  Messiah.  See  note  on  1 :  1. 
This  is  the  first,  yet  lower  part 
of  their  confession.  It  is  a  distinct 
avowal  of  their  conviction  that  Je- 
sus is  the  Messiah  whose  coming 
in  human  flesh  the  prophets  had 
foretold.  The  Son  of  God— This  is 
the  second  and  higher  part  of  their 
confession.  Ignorance  of  this  great 
truth  rested  like  a  pall  over  the 
world.  The  Gentiles,  of  course, 
knew  nothing  of  it.  The  Jews  not 
only  did  not  believe  that  this  Jesus 
was  the  Son  of  God,  but  they  did 
not  believe  that  the  Messiah,  who- 
ever should  prove  to  be  such,  was 
to  be  the  Son  of  God.  They  were 
criminal  for  not  believing  the  latter, 
and,  since  Jesus  was  the  Messiah, 
were  criminal  for  not  believing  that 
Jesus  was  the  Son  of  God.  But 
what  is  the  meaning  of  the  words, 
Son  of  God?  Whatever  it  is,  the 
meaning  did  not  become  the  pos- 
session of  Peter  and  his  fellow-apos- 
tles by  human  wisdom,  either  their 
own  or  any  other  man's ;  for  (vs.  17) 
our  Lord  declares  that  flesh  and 
Hood  —  man,  or,  possibly,  anything 
of  a  natural  kind  in  contrast  with 
the  supernatural  —  has  not  revealed 
it  to  them.  The  meaning  was  re- 
vealed to  them  by  God  himself.  Not 
only  was  the  twofold  fact  that  Jesus 
was  the  Christ  and  the  Son  of  God 
revealed  to  them,  but  the  meaning 
of  the  fact.  The  fulness  of  the  mean- 
ing was  not  revealed  :  that  is  a  study 
for  eternity.  It  follows  that  the 
words,  Son  of  God,  are  used  in  some 
sense  that  would  not  have  occurred 
to  the  highest  human  intellect  unil- 
luminated  from  above.  In  what 
sense,    then?      We    quote   from   a 


198 


MATTHEW. 


said  unto  him,  Blessed  art  thon 
Simon  Bar-jona :  for  flesh  and 
blood  hath  not  revealed  it  unto 
thee,  but  nry  Father  which  is 
in  heaven. 


recent  writer,  Rev.  Dr.  Edward 
Meyrick  Goulbum  (Episcopalian)  : 
"Our  Lord  is  the  Son  of  God  not 
only  in  respect  of  his  birth  of  the 
virgin,  not  only  in  respect  of  his 
birth  from  the  grave  (or  resurrec- 
tion), not  only  in  respect  of  his  in- 
heritance of  all  things,  but  also  in 
respect  of  the  communication  (from 
all  eternity)  of  the  divine  essence 
from  the  Father,  which  is  far  more 
truly  and  properly  a  generation  than 
any  natural  generation  of  the  creat- 
ure. 

"The  scriptural  texts  which  show 
this  are  :  — 

"  God  sent  his  only  begotten  Son 
into  the  world.  John  4 :  9.  (He 
was  the  Son  before  he  was  sent.) 

"God  sent  forth  his  Son,  made  of 
a  woman.  Gal.  4:4.  (He  was  the 
Son  before  he  was  born  of  a  woman.) 

"The  first-born  of  every  creature 
(or,  as  it  might  be  rendered,  Begot- 
ten prior  to  every  creature).  Col. 
1:  17. 

"The  only  begotten  Son,  which 
is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father  (evi- 
dently referring  to  our  Lord's  posi- 
tion in  the  Godhead,  not  to  his  birth 
in  time).  John  1 :  18." 

It  has  been  proved,  if  any  proposi- 
tion whatever  has  been  proved,  that 
Christ,  as  the  Son  of  God,  is  "co- 
equal and  co-eternal  "  with  the  Fa- 
ther. My  Father — Not  our  Father, 
as  in  the  Lord's  Prayer.  He  is  the 
Father  of  Christ,  as  Christ  is  the  Son 
of  God.  in  a  peculiar  sense.  See  John 
5  :  IS  :  But  said  also  that  God  was  his 
Father,  making  himself  equal  with 
God;  John  10  :  30  :  land  my  Fa- 
ther arc  one.  As  son  of  man  ex- 
presses the  human  nature  of  Christ, 
Son  of  God  expresses  the  divine 
nature.    The  living  God — Not  dead 


18  And  I  say  also  unto  thee, 
That  thou  art  Peter,  and  upon 
this  rock  I  will  build  my 
church  ;  and  the  gates  of  hell 
shall  not  prevail  against  it. 

like  the  gods  of  the  heathen.  Je- 
sus approved  the  confession, — great 
arrogance  if  he  was  not  the  Mes- 
siah and  was  not  God  manifest  in 
human  flesh.  Was  Jesus  revealed 
to  them  as  the  Messiah  now  for  the 
first  time  ?  Long  before  this  (John 
1 :  41)  it  had  been  said,  We  have 
found  the  31essias.  But  the  con- 
fession which  Peter  has  now  made 
is  the  child  of  much  deeper  convic- 
tion, itself  the  offspring  of  much 
greater  knowledge.  It  was  almost 
like  an  original  acknowledgment. 
Bar-jona — Son  of  Jonas. 

18.  Eomanists  use  this  verse  and 
the  following  one  as  proof  that  ' '  the 
Church  is  infallible  in  matters  of 
faith,"  and  that  "St.  Peter,  by 
Christ's  ordinance,  was  raised  to  the 
dignity  of  Pope  or  chief  bishop." 
See  Table  of  References  at  the  end 
of  the  Douay  Version,  New  York, 
1848,  and  approved  by  "John 
Hughes,  Bishop  of  New  York." 
Protestants  have  been  too  much  in- 
clined to  deny  all  reference  in  the 
words,  this  rock,  to  Peter,  and  have 
explained  them  as  meaning  either, 
1.  Peter's  confession,  Thou  art  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God.  af- 
firming that  it  is  upon  that  great  troth 
that  Christ  declares  his  purpose  to 
build  the  Church;  or,  2.  Christ 
himself.  The  former  explanation  is 
forced  and  unnatural.  The  latter  is 
more  probable,  since  both  in  the  Old 
Testament  and  the  New,  God  or 
Christ  is  very  often  called  a  rock. 
It  has  been  affirmed  (Alexander) 
that  the  term  is  never  applied,  even 
by  the  strongest  figure,  to  a  merely 
human  subject;  and  that  this  re- 
markable image  is  at  least  sufficient 
to  create  a  strong  presumption  that 
the  figure  here  is  not  applied  to  any 
mere   man.      We   believe  that   the 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


199 


19  And  I  will  give  unto  thee 


reference  is  either  to  Christ  or  to 
Peter.  So  far  as  the  pretensions  of 
Eome  are  concerned,  Protestants 
need  not  hesitate  to  explain  them  as 
referring  to  Peter.  Admitting  that 
Peter  was  the  exclusive  founder  of 
the  church  in  Rome, — though  that 
can  never  be  proved, — it  by  no 
means  follows  that  the  personages 
called  Popes  are  his  divinely  ap- 
pointed successors.  That  depends  in 
part  upon  the  question  whether  the 
Popes,  all  of  them,  or  even  most  of, 
them,  have  been  essentially  like  Pe- 
ter; and  that  is  a  question  which 
the  interests  of  Romanism  require 
should  not  be  pressed.  A  very  lit- 
tle investigation  of  facts  of  history 
would  reveal  Popes  wallowing  in 
such  licentiousness  as  to  destroy 
every  lineament  of  resemblance  to 
Peter.  Admitting  again  that  Peter 
founded  a  Christian  church  in  Rome, 
it  does  not  at  all  follow  that  the 
present  Church  of  Rome  is  that 
church  continued.  That  depends  in 
part  upon  the  question  whether  the 
present  Church  of  Rome  is  like  the 
church  which  Peter  founded,  and  that 
is  a  question  which  answers  itself. 
Por  such  a  body  as  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic Church  is  and  always  has  been, 
partly  political,  partly  Jewish,  part- 
ly Christian,  partly  pagan,  to  call 
itself  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ,  a 
continuation  of  the  original  Chris- 
tian church  in  Rome,  is  one  of  those 
monstrous  assumptions  which  re- 
quired the  travail-pains  of  centuries 
to  bring  forth.  Peter  may  be  the 
rock  on  which  Christ  promised  to 
build  his  church,  and  yet  Roman- 
ism itself  may  be '  one  of  the  forces 
which  the  gates  of  hell  will  employ 
in  their  vain  resistance  to  Christ. 
We  accept  as  more  probably  the 
true  interpretation  of  our  Lord's 
words,  that  he  means  Peter  rather 
than  himself:  Peter,  1.  In  his  own 
character.  2.  As  the  representative 
of  the  apostolic  body.  More  than 
any  other  apostle,  at  first,  Peter 


the  keys   of  the  kingdom   of 


was  the  means  of  introducing  both 
Jews  and  Gentiles  into  the  Chris- 
tian church.  But  (a.)  The  other 
apostles  as  well  as  Peter  are  repre- 
sented as  being  the  foundation  of 
the  church.  Eph.  2  :  20;  Rev.  21 : 
14.  (b.)  The  powers  conferred  upon 
Peter  were  soon,  even  if  not  now, 
conferred  upon  the  other  apostles 
(John  20  :  23),  and  indeed  upon  the 
entire  church.  18 :  18.  (c.)  Peter 
himself  never  assumed  official  au- 
thority over  his  fellow-apostles,  (c?.) 
Paul  so  conducted  himself  toward 
Peter  as  to  show  that  he  recognized 
in  him  no  superiority  of  rank,  (e.) 
On  one  important  occasion  (Acts 
15),  James  towers  quite  above 
Peter  in  perception  and  influence. 
Gal.  2  :  11-14.  For  these  reasons 
it  may  be  concluded  that  if  in  the 
words,  Upon  this  rock  I  will  build 
my  church,  Christ  alludes  to  Peter, 
he  alludes  to  him  as  the  representa- 
tive of  the  apostolic  body. 

Church — Not  here  an  organized 
body,  though  generally  so  used  in 
the  New  Testament,  but  all  true 
believers,  whether  members  of  an 
organized  church  or  not.  In  18  : 
17,  And  if  he  shall  neglect  to  hear 
them,  tell  it  unto  the  church,  it 
has  the  usual  sense;  that  is,  the 
church  in  an  organized  form.  Or- 
ganization can  be  affirmed  only 
of  churches,  as  the  church  in  Cor- 
inth, the  church  in  Pergamos, 
etc.  There  is  no  such  body  in 
the  United  States  as  The  Baptist 
Church,  though  there  are  several 
thousand  Baptist  churches.  See 
note  on  13 :  41,  concerning  the  na- 
ture of  a  Christian  church. 

Hell — Hades,  concerning  which 
see  note  on  11 :  23,  under  the  same 
word.  This  is  one  of  the  cases  in 
which  hades,  here  translated  hell, 
seems  to  be  scarcely  distinguish- 
able from  Gehenna,  also  translated 
hell,  and  expressing,  as  would  be 
admitted  by  all  evangelical  scholars, 
the  place  of  future  punishment. 


200 


MATTHEW. 


heaven  and  whatsoever  thou 
shalt  bind  on  earth  shall  be 
bound  in  heaven  :  and  whatso- 
ever thou  shalt  loose  on  earth 
shall  be  loosed  in  heaven. 

20  Then  charged  he  his  disci- 
ples that  they  should  tell  no  man 
that  he  was  Jesus  the  Christ. 

21  IF  From  that  time  forth 
began  Jesus  to  shew  unto  his 
disciples,  how  that  he  must  go 
unto     Jerusalem,    and    suffer 


19.  Keys — A  figure  expressing 
the  idea  that  Jesus  confers  upon 
Peter  and  his  brethren  in  the  apos- 
tolate,  authority  in  matters  pertain- 
ing to  the  guardianship  of  the  king- 
dom of  heaven.  They  were  hereby 
authorized  to  announce  the  condi- 
tions of  membership,  to  receive 
persons  as  members,  and  to  an- 
nounce the  reasons  for  which  the 
membership  of  unworthy  persons 
should  cease.  Bind  .  .  .  loose — 
These  terms  are  substantially 
another  method  of  stating  what  he 
has  just  stated  under  the  figure  of 
keys.  The  general  idea  in  both 
forms'  of  expression  is  that  of  gov- 
ernment or  control.  On  earth  .  .  . 
in  heaven — What  the  apostles  do, 
under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  will  be  sanctioned  in  heaven. 

20.  Tell  no  man — The  people  were 
not  prepared  to  receive  it,  and  the 
disclosure  might  have  prematurely 
hastened  to  a  conclusion  the  con- 
spiracy against  his  life. 

21.  Thus  confirmed  in  respect  to 
his  nature  and  office,  the  disciples 
must  be  taught  the  great  truth  that 
he  is  to  be  put  to  death.  Must  go 
unto  Jerusalem — 1.  The  eternal 
plan  requires  it;  2.  But  between 
the  execution  of  that  plan  and  the 
freedom  of  the  human  will  there  is 
no  clashing.  If  the  doctrine  that 
God  creates  sinful  volitions  in  the 
hearts  of  men  were  true,  God  could 
have  effected  the  death  of  Jesus  in 
Capernaum  or  at  the  foot  of  Mount 


many  things  of  the  elders  and 
chief  priests  and  scribes,  and 
be  killed,  and  be  raised  again 
the  third  day. 

22  Then  Peter  took  him,  and 
began  to  rebuke  him,  saying, 
Be  it  far  from  thee,  Lord  :  this 
shall  not  be  unto  thee. 

23  But  he  turned,  and  said 
unto  Peter,  Get  thee  behind  me, 
Satan  :  thou  art  an  offence  unto 
me  :  for  thou  savourest  not  the 


Hermon  as  well  as  in  Jerusalem ; 
but  the  doctrine  is  false.  Both 
crime  and  virtue  become  more  in- 
tense in  the  great  centres  of  human 
life.  That  fact  the  eternal  plan 
presupposed.  Only  in  such  a  cen- 
tre will  the  spirit  of  crime  be  viru- 
lent enough  to  accomplish  the  death 
of  the  Son  of  God.  Many  things — 
Let  these  be  specified  by  the  Sab- 
bath-school teacher.  The  elders, 
chief  priests,  and  scribes  were  the 
Sanhedrim.  Concerning  the  first 
class  see  note  on  15 :  2,  and  the  last 
two  the  note  on  2  :  4.  Be  raised — 
The  active,  rise,  is  the  correct 
form.  Observe  that  Jesus  knew 
this  ;  it  was  not  a  mere  estimate  of 
the  possibilities  of  the  case. 

22.  The  two  facts  :  1.  That  Je- 
sus is  the  Messiah,  the  Son  of  the 
living  God;  2.  That  lie  is  to  suf- 
fer death,  seem  to  Peter  utterly  ir- 
reconcilable ;  and,  in  the  impul- 
siveness of  his  nature,  strength- 
ened by  his  comparative  ignorance 
of  spiritual  things,  he  cries  out, 
This  shall  not  be  unto  thee.  He 
makes  no  withdrawal  of  his  noble 
confession.  He  still  believes  that 
Jesus  is  all  that  he  has  just  con- 
fessed him  to  be,  and  it  is  because 
he  believes  it  that  he  cannot  admit 
that  Jesus  is  to  be  put  to  death.  It 
is  contrary  to  all  his  conceptions  of 
the  Messiah.  It  is  not  to  be  sup- 
posed that  the  other  disciples  had 
juster  views  than  Peter,  but  it  is 
like  Peter  ty  do  the  talking.     How 


CHAPTER   XVI. 


201 


things  that  be  of  God,  but  those 
that  be  of  men. 

24  %  Then  said  Jesus  unto 
his  disciples,  If  any  man  will 
come  after  me,  let  him  deny 
himself,  and  take  up  his  cross, 
and  follow  me. 


many  reject  Christ  on  the  cross  who 
profess  to  receive  Jesus  in  the  man- 
ger! Many  reject  him  both  in  the 
manger  and  on  the  cross.  Convic- 
tion of  a  truth  may  become  a  source 
of  temptation ;  and  the  profounder 
the  truth  and  deeper  the  conviction, 
the  more  powerful  may  be  the 
temptation.  Began — "  In  the  sim- 
plicity and  particularity  of  the 
ancient  manner,  a  person  is  often 
said  to  begin  to  do  what  he  is  to  be 
understood  as  having  actually 
done." 

23.  Behind  .  .  .  Satan — Severe 
but  just ;  for  who  but  Christ  could 
comprehend  all  the  issues  involved 
in  yielding  to  this  new  suggestion 
of  the  spirit  of  evil  ?  Satan  must 
not  be  taken  in  the  sense  of  adver- 
sary. Jesus  refers  to  "the  wicked 
one,"  the  prince  of  evil  spirits,  else- 
where called  diabolos,  devil.  John 
Bunyan  describes  him  with  suffi- 
cient distinctness.  The  Lord  ap- 
plies the  term  to  Peter,  but  with  a 
vivid  recollection  of  what  he  had 
suffered  at  Satan's  hands  in  the  wil- 
derness. He  rebukes  Satan  in  Pe- 
ter, as  before  he  rebuked  him  to  his 
face.  Offence  unto  me — A  ground 
of  displeasure.  Savorest — Savory 
food  is  food  that  relishes.  But  that 
is  not  the  meaning  here.  As  the 
word  savorest  is  now  used,  it  con- 
veys to  the  English  reader  an  erro- 
neous idea.  It  has  given  rise  in 
pulpits  and  vestries  to  many  an  ex- 
hortation which  the  original  word 
does  not  justify.  The  meaning  is  : 
Thou  thinkest  not  the  things  of  God, 
but  the  things  of  men ;  that  is,  con- 
cerning the  point  of  which  he  had 
spoken,  Peter  had  not  expressed 
the  mind  of  God,  but  the  uninformed 


25  For  whosoever  will  save 
his  life  shall  lose  it :  and  who- 
soever will  lose  his  life  for  my 
sake  shall  find  it. 

26  For  what  is  a  man  profit- 
ed, if  he  shall  gain  the  whole 
world,  and  lose  his  own  soul? 

and  prejudiced  mind  of  the  Jews, 
who  did  not  expect  that  the  Messiah 
would  be  subjected  to  ignominy  and 
death.  Here  John  12:  34  is  very 
important. 

21.  Will  come — It  denotes  pur- 
pose, which  of  course  implies  de- 
sire. Come  after — Become  my  dis- 
ciple. Deny  himself — It  refers  not 
to  some  specific  act.  but  to  the  entire 
being.  One  may  live  for  self  apait 
from  God,  may  make  his  own  will 
instead  of  God's  the  standard  of  all 
his  actions.  But  this  is  what  no  one 
can  do  who  purposes  to  be  a  disciple 
of  Christ.  Take  up  his  cross — In  al- 
lusion to  the  well-known  custom 
of  criminals  carrying  the  cross  on 
which  they  were  to  be  crucified,  and 
to  the  manner  of  his  own  death. 
Applying  these  words  to  a  specific 
act,  as  speaking  in  a  religious  meet- 
ing, or  being  baptized,  is  a  use  which 
has  no  support  whatever  in  the 
Scriptures,  and  ought  wholly  to 
cease.  Ministers,  whether  pastors 
or  evangelists,  should  not  lend  their 
countenance  to  such  a  perversion, 
and  should  teach  young  disciples 
that  taking  up  the  cross  is  a  much 
more  thorough  and  comprehensive 
thing. 

25.  Having  taught  his  disciples 
that  he  must  lose  his  life,  he  pro- 
ceeds to  teach  them  that  they  mast 
be  willing  to  lose  theirs  also.  Thus 
he  would  educate  them  to  see  that 
Christian  discipleship  involves  an 
entire  elevation  of  soul  above  those 
semi-worldly  views  concerning  the 
Messiah's  kingdom,  which  had  just 
found  utterance  through  Peter.  For 
the  explanation  of  the  verse  see  10  : 
39,  where  the  same  words  occur. 

26.  His  own  soul — The  immortal, 


202 


MATTHEW. 


or  what  shall  a  man  give  in  ex- 
change for  his  soul? 

27  For  the  Son  of  man  shall 
come  in  the  glory  of  his  Father 
with  his  angels ;  and  then  he 
shall  reward  every  man  accord- 
ing to  his  works. 

28  Verily  I  say  unto  you, 
There  be  some  standing  here, 
which  shall  not  taste  of  death, 


the  spiritual  nature,  as  in  10 :  28 ; 
though  in  some  instances  the  origi- 
nal word  is  used  in  the  sense  of 
natural  life.  In  exchange — As  an 
exchange,  as  a  "counter-price." 
Here  are  two  sums,  the  first  of 
which  is  not  difficult.  A  child  can 
do  it.  One  step  will  bring  the  true 
answer.  The  second  sum  cannot 
be  done.  The  answer  is  infinitely 
remote.  The  value  of  one  soul  lies 
beyond  the  computation  of  all  cre- 
ated beings.  Teacher !  be  not  in- 
sensible to  this  tremendous  truth. 
Press  it  upon  the  attention  of  those 
committed  to  your  care,  and  pray 
that  the  Holy  Spirit  may  lodge  it  in 
their  hearts.  Jesus  Christ  teaches 
the  possibility  of  losing  the  soul, 
which  is  a  sufficient  reply  to  all  that 
men  may  say  on  the  other  side. 

27.  An  argument  to  incite  us  to 
secure  eternal  life,  and  to  cease 
striving  to  gain  the  world.  He 
will  come,  at  the  end  of  the  new 
dispensation,  as  the  Son  of  man; 
that  is,  men  will  then  see  him  as 
the  being  who,  when  in  the  world, 
bore  the  character  represented  in 
those  words;  a  being  of  voluntary 
humiliation ;  but  he  will  come  in  the 
glory  of  his  Father — Invested  witli 
all  the  glory  which  he  had  with  the 
Father  from  the  beginning,  not  in 
the  shame  and  weakness  in  which 
most  men  now  view  him ;  he  will 
come  to  reward  every  man  accord- 
ing to  his  works — To  confer  upon 
every  man  bliss,  not  as  a  thing  mer- 
ited, yet  according  to  his  entire 
course  of  life,  from  the  considera- 


till   they  see  the  Son  of  man 
coming  in  his  kingdom. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

AND  after  six  days  Jesus 
taketh  Peter,  James,  and 
John  his  brother,  and  bringeth 
them  up  into  a  high  mountain 
apart. 


tion  of  which  the  question  whether 
he  has  accepted  the  righteousness 
and  death  of  Christ  can  no  more  be 
excluded,  than  the  question  whether 
he  has  been  kind  to  the  poor  and 
faithful  in  paying  the  claims  of  his 
creditors. 

28.  Till  they  see  the  Son  of  man 
coming,  etc. — To  what  time  Jesus 
here  refers  is  a  question  upon  which 
there  has  been  very  great  diversity  of 
opinion.  The  time  of  the  Transfigu- 
ration is  most  improbable  of  all.  The 
time  of  the  last  advent  is  inadmissi- 
ble, since  the  event  was  to  occur 
before  some  present  should  die. 
Mark  (9  :  1)  reports  the  same  thing, 
without  the  words  to  which  some 
are  so  inclined  to  attach  a  peculiar 
meaning, — the  Son  of  man  coming. 
His  words  are,  Till  they  have  seen 
the  kingdom  of  God  come  with 
poiver.  The  kingdom  of  God  was 
at  hand  when  John  preached  in  the 
wilderness.  It  came  with  pov:er  on 
the  day  of  Pentecost,  yet  not  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  subsequent  apos- 
tolic period.  That  entire  period, 
inclusive  of  the  Pentecost  and  of 
the  destruction  of  the  Jewish  polity 
at  the  downfall  of  Jerusalem,  was 
the  forming  period  of  Christianity, 
both  for  that  age  and  for  future 
ages.  There  were  some  present 
who  lived  to  see  that  powerful  com- 
ing of  the  kingdom  of  God.  We 
suppose,  then,  that  there  is  an  in- 
tended contrast  between  the  state- 
ment in  this  verse  and  that  in  the 
preceding  one.  In  vs.  27,  Jesus 
speaks  of  his  final  coming ;  in  this. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


203 


2  And  was  transfigured  be- 
fore them :  and   his   face   did 


of  that  coming  which  some  now  liv- 
ing shall  see. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

the  transfiguration;  a  luna- 
tic healed  ;  Christ's  death 
again  announced. 

782  l.C.     Summer,  A.I>.  3J>. 

Peter  and  the  other  apostles 
were  so  surprised  and  disappointed 
at  the  announcement  that  Jesus  was 
to  be  put  to  death,  that  our  Lord 
soon  favored  them  with  an  uncom- 
mon means  of  illumination  and 
faith.  The  event  is  not  to  be  ex- 
plained away  as  a  dream  or  a 
trance.  It  was  an  actual  occur- 
rence, the  word  vision,  in  vs.  9, 
being  no  evidence  to  the  contrary. 
The  word  sometimes  denotes  a 
supernatural  appearance,  and  some- 
times merely  what  is  seen.  That 
the  latter  is  the  meaning  here  is 
evident  from  Mark  9 :  9,  What 
things  they  had  seen;  and  from 
Luke  9 :  36,  Those  things  which 
they  had  seen.  In  his  second 
epistle  (1:  16-18),  Peter,  many 
years  after  the  event,  referred  to  it 
in  such  terms  as  to  put  the  reality  of 
the  occurrences  beyond  all  question. 

1.  Peter,  James,  and  John — Why 
were  not  the  others  taken  also? 
Possibly  because  the  wants  of  his 
own  pure  spirit  would  be  more  fully 
met  by  the  presence  of  a  smaller 
number,  and  perhaps  because  these 
were  more  qualified  to  be  benefited 
by  what  was  to  occur.  He  selected 
these  same  men  to  accompany  him 
into  the  house  when  he  was  about 
to  raise  the  ruler's  daughter  from 
the  dead,  and  into  the  garden  of 
Gethsemane.  So  far  as  they  are 
to  be  regarded  in  the  light  of  wit- 
nesses, three  were  sufficient.  How 
great    the    contrast    between    the 


shine  as  the  sun,  and  his  rai- 
ment was  white  as  the  light. 


glory  of  the  transfiguration  and  the 
humiliation  on  the  cross !  But 
there  was  a  connecting  link,  for, 
according  to  Luke  9  :  30,  the  sub- 
ject of  conversation  upon  the  mount 
was  his  decease.  In  periods  of  the 
highest  spiritual  elevation  the  death 
of  Christ  is  a  subject  of  transcen- 
dent interest.  A  high  mountain 
apart — Apart  refers  to  thorn,  not  to 
the  mountain.  There  are  no  means 
of  deciding  what  mountain  it  was. 
The  popular  idea  that  it  was  Mount 
Tabor  is  not  well  supported.  Says 
Dr.  Hackett,  in  Smith's  Dictionary 
of  the  Bible:  "If  one  might 
choose  a  place  which  he  would 
deem  peculiarly  fitting  for  so  sub- 
lime a  transaction,  there  is  none 
certainly  which  would  so  entirely 
satisfy  our  feelings  in  this  respect 
as  the  lofty,  majestic,  beautiful 
Tabor.  It  is  impossible,  however, 
to  acquiesce  in  the  correctness  of 
this  opinion.  .  .  .  It  is  morally 
certain  that  Tabor  must  have  been 
inhabited.  ...  in  the  days  of 
Christ."  It  is  more  probable  that 
one  of  the  peaks  of  Hermon  was 
the  scene  of  the  transfiguration,  for 
that  would  be  considerably  nearer 
Cesarea  Philippi. 

2.  Transfigured, —  Changed;  in 
what  respects  is  stated  in  the  next 
two  clauses,  (a.)  His  face  was  su- 
pernaturally  illuminated ;  (5.)  Even 
his  garments  were,  became,  white 
as  the  light.  See  Ex.  34 :  30  for  a 
similar  illumination  of  the  face  of 
Moses.  In  what  the  radiance  of 
the  Lord's  face  and  raiment  con- 
sisted is  a  useless  inquiry.  It  is 
not  stated  either  that  the  light  pro- 
ceeded from  his  body,  or  that  it 
came  upon  him  from  without.  It 
has  been  spoken  of  as  the  bursting 
forth  of  the  inherent  glory  of  Christ, 
but  the  same  writer  thinks  this 
hardly  sufficient  to  account  for  the 
brilliancy  of  his  garments. 


204 


MATTHEW. 


3  And,  behold,  there  appear- 
ed unto  them  Moses  and  Elias 
talking  with  him. 

4  Then  answered  Peter,  and 
said  unto  Jesus,  Lord,  it  is  good 
for  us  to  be  here  :  if  thou  wilt, 
let  us  make  here  three  taber- 
nacles ;  one  for  thee,  and  one 
for  Moses,  and  one  for  Elias. 

5  While  he  yet  spake,  be- 
hold, a  bright  cloud  overshad- 


3.  3foses — The  representative  of 
the  law.  Elijah — The  representa- 
tive of  the  prophets.  Both  were 
representatives  of  the  entire  old 
dispensation.  The  meeting  shows 
the  personal  union  of  these  glori- 
fied ones  with  each  other  and  with 
the  Son  of  God.  It  shows  also  the 
oneness  of  the  spirit  of  the  ancient 
economy  with  that  of  the  new.  The 
essential  oneness  of  the  law  and 
the  gospel,  as  taught  in  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount,  is  here,  on  the  Mount 
of  Transfiguration,  illustrated  in 
the  meeting  of  Moses  and  Christ. 

4.  Answered — Not  that  any  ques- 
tion had  been  asked.  In  the  lan- 
guages in  which  the  Bible  was 
written,  this  form  is  often  used 
"where  the  words  are  occasioned 
by,  or  dependent  on,  something 
that  precedes."  Lord — In  the 
epistles,  this  word,  preceded  by 
the  definite  article,  expresses  the 
exalted  nature  of  Christ ;  here  it  is 
equivalent  to  Rabbi  (teacher),  Avhich 
is  the  corresponding  word  in  Mark. 
Good  to  be  here — But  there  is  no 
reason  to  suppose  that  Peter  de- 
sired to  remain  there  long.  In  this 
matter,  Peter  has  been  handled 
more  roughly  by  interpreters  than 
the  record  warrants.  We  cannot, 
with  Lange,  "  understand  Peter  as 
willing  to  give  up  the  prospect  of 
that  coming  glory "  [of  Messiah's 
kingdom],  "satisfied  if,  separated 
from  the  world,  he  could  continue 
with  the  Lord  and  his  companions, 
in  spiritual  communion  with  Moses 


owed  them  :  and  behold  a  voice 
out  of  the  cloud,  which  said, 
This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in 
whom  I  am  well  pleased ;  hear 
ye  him. 

6  And  when  the  disciples 
heard  it,  they  fell  on  their  face, 
and  were  sore  afraid. 

7  And  Jesus  came  and  touch- 
ed them,  and  said,  Arise,  and 
be  not  afraid. 

and  Elijah."  "We  see  in  the  ac- 
count nothing  like  readiness  to  re- 
nounce the  world  by  forming  "an 
outward  institution  (such  as  mo- 
nasticism)."  This  view  implies 
too  much  deliberation.  According 
to  Mark,  Peter  wist  not  what  to  say. 
We  prefer  to  regard  him  as  having, 
in  the  excitement  of  the  occasion, 
no  special  aim  in  the  proposition, 
or  as  feeling  that  the  heavenly  vis- 
itants would  probably  remain  a  few 
days  and  nights,  and  that  therefore 
some  shelter  on  the  mountain  Avould 
be  desirable.  Tabernacles — Tents 
made  of  boughs,  such  as  Peter  had 
been  accustomed  to  see  at  the  Feast 
of  Tabernacles.  Three — None  for 
himself  and  his  fellow-disciples. 

5.  A  bright  cloud — Not  a  com- 
mon cloud  illuminated  by  the  sun, 
but  a  supernatural  brilliancy  in  the 
form  of  a  cloud.  It  was  similar, 
doubtless,  to  that  which  received 
him  at  his  ascension  (Acts  1:9); 
to  that  in  which  the  Lord  went  be- 
fore the  Israelites  in  their  march 
through  the  wilderness  ;  and  to  that 
which  hovered  over  the  mercy-seat 
in  the  tabernacle  and  the  temple. 
In  the  old  dispensation  it  was  called 
the  Shekinah,  and  was  a  symbol 
of  God's  presence.  Overshadowed 
them — The  apostles  as  well  as  the 
others.  Luke  9 :  34.  Concerning 
the  voice  .see  on  3 :  17.  Hear  ye 
him — Of  great  interest  in  this  con- 
nection are  the  words  in  Hebrews 
1:  1,  2;  2:  1-3.  Thus  God 
solemnly  sets  forth  his  Son,  in  the 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


205 


8  And  when  the}7  had  lifted 
up  their  eyes,  they  saw  no  man, 
save  Jesus  only. 

9  And  as  they  came  down 
from  the  mountain,  Jesus 
charged  them,  saying,  Tell  the 
vision  to  no  man,  until  the  Son 
of  man  be  risen  again  from  the 
dead. 

10  And  his  disciples  asked 
him,  saying,  Why  then  say  the 
scribes  that  Elias  must  first 
come  ? 

11  And  Jesus  answered  and 


very  presence  of  Moses  and  Elijah, 
as  the  true  Messiah  of  whom  they 
themselves  had  spoken,  and  whom 
all  men  are  henceforth  under  obli- 
gation to  receive. 

8.  The  object  is  accomplished. 
The  apostles,  more  enlightened 
than  ever  by  this  wonderful  dis- 
play of  divine  glory,  will  be  con- 
firmed in  their  allegiance  to  Christ, 
and  be  prepared  to  work  more 
effectually  after  their  Master  shall 
have  returned  to  heaven;  and  there- 
fore Moses  and  Elijah  have  de- 
parted. 

9.  Vision — See  the  remarks  in- 
troductory to  the  notes  upon  the 
chapter.  Tell  no  man — If,  as  is 
understood  by  most  interpreters, 
this  Avas  a  prohibition  to  tell  it  even 
to  their  fellow-apostles,  which  may 
be  doubted,  it  is  difficult  to  assign 
any  other  motive  than  that  the 
others  were  not  prepared  to  receive 
it.  At  any  fate  these  three  were 
doubtless  in  advance  of  the  others 
in  spiritual  perception. 

10.  Elias— See  on  11:  14,  15. 
"  Within  sight  on  a  neighboring 
hill,  was  a  pillar  of  stone,  which  the 
Jews  Bald  was  Elijah's  seat,  because 
he  was  accustomed  to  rest  there  as 
he  journeyed  through  this  region. 
He  will  come  again  a  second  time, 
they  remarked  to  me,  and  will  then 
change  the  pillar  into  gold.     Here 

18 


said  unto  them,  Elias  truly 
shall  first  come,  and  restore  all 
things. 

12  But  I  say  unto  you,  That 
Elias  is  come  already,  and  they 
knew  him  not,  but  have  done 
unto  him  whatsoever  they  list- 
ed. Likewise  shall  also  the 
Son  of  man  suffer  of  them. 

13  Then  the  disciples  under- 
stood that  he  spake  unto  them 
of  John  the  Baptist. 

14  %  And  when  they  were 
come  to  the  multitude,    there 

we  have  a  trace  of  the  opinion  in 
respect  to  which  the  Jews  in  Christ's 
time  were  so  tenacious,  that  one  of 
the  antecedents  of  the  Messianic 
age  was  that '  Elias  must  first  come.' 
Their  mistake  was  that  they  ex- 
pected a  literal  return  of  the 
prophet,  instead  of  the  appearance 
of  one  who  should  manifest  his 
'spirit  and  power.'" — Dr.  Hackett 
The  question  was  probably  prompted 
by  the  fact  that  Elijah  did  not  now 
tarry  and  engage  in  the  work  which 
he  was  expected  to  do. 

11-13.  Jesus  admits  that  the 
scribes  are  right  in  saying  that  Eli- 
jah must  precede  the  Messiah,  but 
exposes  their  blindness  in  that  they 
do  not  see  that  he  has  already  coma. 
Elias  shall  first  come — Indeed  comes, 
is  the  correct  rendering  of  the  Greek. 
Restore  —  Shall  restore.  These 
words  give  no  authority  for  the  idea 
that  Elijah's  coming  is  yet  future; 
for  Christ  says  that  he  has  already 
come;  that  is,  that  the  words  of 
Malachi  (4 :  5)  have  been  fulfilled 
in  the  coming  of  John.  He  uses  the 
future  tense  only  because  he  would 
express  the  fact  as  conceived  and 
proclaimed  by  the  prophet.  John 
came  to  take  a  preparatory  part  in 
the  work  of  restoring  to  the  Jewish 
mind  the  true  ideal  of  the  old  cove- 
nant, which  always  included  the 
coming  of  a  purely  spiritual  king- 


206 


MATTHEW. 


came  to  him  a  certain  man, 
kneeling  down  tc  him,  and 
saying, 

15  Lord,  have  mercy  on  my 
son ;  for  he  is  lunatic,  and 
sore  vexed :  for  ofttimes  he 
falleth  into  the  fire,  and  oft 
into  the  water. 

16  And  I  brought  him  to  thy 
disciples,  and  they  could  not 
cure  him. 

17  Then  Jesus  answered  and 
said,  O  faithless  and  perverse 
generation,  how  long  shall  I 


dom  through  the  Messiah.  Observe 
that  the  Saviour,  desirous  of  im- 
pressing it  strongly  on  their  hearts, 
repeats  what  he  had  so  recently 
told  them,  that  he  is  to  suffer  at  the 
hands  of  the  scribes. 

15.  This  is  one  of  the  most  in- 
structive and  affecting  narratives  of 
miraculous  healing  in  the  life  of 
Christ.  The  details  will  be  consid- 
ered in  the  notes  on  Mark,  who  is 
very  graphic  in  his  delineation  of 
the  case.  How  striking  the  contrast 
between  the  scenes  on  the  mount 
and  the  scenes  which  had  been  oc- 
curring in  the  plain  !— on  the  mount, 
the  forecasting  of  universal  victory ; 
in  the  plain,  defeat  suffered  openly  by 
the  disciples  in  the  presence  of  the 
scribes  themselves  !  Lunatic — An- 
other case  of  demoniacal  possession. 
See  note  on  4  :  24.  Sore  'vexed — ■ 
Sorely  afflicted.  Fire  .  .  .  water — ■ 
Devils  can  drive  men  to  extremes. 

17.  0  faithless  and  perverse  gen- 
eration— By  generation  we  under- 
stand the  Jews  of  that  period,  but 
the  rebuke  has  special  reference  to 
all — disciples,  father,  son,  scribes, 
and  people — whose  unbelief  has 
just  been  manifested.  Many  con- 
sider the  Avord  unbelief,  as  applied 
in  vs.  20  to  the  disciples,  too  strong. 
They  soften  it  by  the  translation, 
u-ant  of  faith.  Assuming  this  to  be 
correct,  the   rebuke   in   this  verse, 


be  with  you?  how  long  shall  I 
suffer  you  ?  bring  him  hither  to 
me. 

18  And  Jesus  rebuked  the 
devil ;  and  he  departed  out  of 
him  :  and  the  child  was  cured 
from  that  very  hour. 

19  Then  came  the  disciples 
to  Jesus  apart,  and  said,  Why 
could  not  we  cast  him  out? 

20  And  Jesus  said  unto 
them,  Because  of  }7our  unbe- 
lief: for  verily  I  say  unto  you, 
If  ye  have  faith  as  a  grain  of 


in  the  full  measure  of  its  severity, 
cannot  be  regarded  as  intended  for 
the  disciples ;  that  is,  the  apostles. 
These  still  believed  that  Jesus 
worked  miracles  by  divine  power, 
and  therefore  they  tried  to  effect 
the  boy's  cure.  This  surely  proves 
their  unbelief  to  have  been  a  state 
very  different  from  that  of  the 
scribes.  The  scribes  were  perverse; 
in  a  thoroughly  prejudiced,  dis- 
torted spirit.  How  long  ?  .  .  .  lioxo 
long  ? — Expressions  of  the  Saviour's 
holy  displeasure  at  their  wickedness. 
Suffer  you — Bear  with  you. 

18, 19.  That  very  hour — No  stress 
should  be  laid  upon  the  very.  It 
expresses  the  thought  more  strongly 
than  does  the  original.  Came  .  .  . 
to  Jesus  apart — How  natural  to  be 
disinclined  to  ask  him  before  those 
who  had  witnessed  their  failure ! 
That  their  unbelief  was  the  cause 
seems  not  to  have  occurred  to  them. 
He  whose  efforts  to  do  good  are  not 
successful  should  prayerfully  in- 
quire,  Why  not? 

20.  Unbelief— See  note  on  vs.  17. 
Mustard-seed— See  on  13:  31,  32. 
Faith— See  on  8  :  8-10.  If  a  man 
has  faith  that  a  given  thing  will  be 
done,  his  faith  is  based  upon  some 
expression  of  God's  will.  Should  a 
man  have  faith  that  he  could  re- 
move a  mountain,  he  could  have  it 
only  because  he   has  learned  that 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


207 


mustard  seed,  ye  shall  say  unto 
this  mountain,  Remove  hence 
to  yonder  place :  and  it  shall 
remove  ;  and  nothing  shall  be 
impossible  unto  you. 

21  Howbeit  this  kind  goeth 
not  out  but  by  prayer  and  fast- 
ing. 

22  %  And  while  they  abode 
in  Galilee,  Jesus  said  unto 
them,  The  Son  of  man  shall  be 
betrayed  into  the  hands  of 
men : 


it  is  God's  will  it  should  be  re- 
moved. There  is  nothing,  then,  in 
the  nature  of  faith  which  makes  it 
impossible  to  secure  the  removal  of  a 
mountain.  The  Saviour's  statement 
is  therefore  literally  true  that  faith 
will  remove  a  mountain ;  or,  speak- 
ing generally,  the  nature  of  faith  is 
such  that,  if  exercised,  it  could  ef- 
fect changes  in  nature  other  than 
those  effected  through  the  course 
of  natural  law.  This  it  often  did 
when  exercised  by  prophets  and 
apostles,  dividing  rivers  and  raising 
the  dead.  If  no  instance  of  remov- 
ing a  mountain  by  faith  has  occurred, 
it  is  not  because  it  would  have  been 
more  difficult  than  to  divide  a  river, 
but  because  there  has  been  no  ne- 
cessity for  doing  it.  Of  course  the 
faith  to  do  it  has  not  been  given. 
Mountain,  however,  may  here  be 
used  figuratively,  which  brings  us 
to  the  same  point.  Anything,  how- 
ever difficult,  which  God  has  given 
us  reason  to  believe  it  is  his  will 
should  be  done,  through  us,  can  be 
done,  if  we  believe  that  he  will  give 
us  the  power  to  do  it. 

21.  This  kind — It  is  possible,  as 
others  have  remarked,  that  this 
means,  such  faith  as  this ;  but  it  is 
probable  that  it  refers  to  the  peculiar 
severity  of  the  case.  There  is  dif- 
ference in  devils  as  well  as  in  men. 
See  12  :  45  for  a  devil  that  knew  of 
seven  others  more  wicked  than  him- 
self. 


23  And  they  shall  kill  him, 
and  the  third  day  he  shall  be 
raised  again.  And  they  were 
exceeding  sorry. 

24  %  And  when  they  were 
come  to  Capernaum,  they  that 
received  tribute  money  came  to 
Peter,  and  said,  Doth  not  your 
master  pay  tribute  ? 

25  Hesaith,  Yes.  And  when 
he  was  come  into  the  house, 
Jesus  prevented  him,  saying, 
What   thinkest   thou,  Simon? 


Autumn,  A.I>.   39. 

22,  23.  After  leaving  the  vicinity 
of  the  mountain,  Jesus  is  supposed 
to  have  crossed  the  Jordan  north 
of  the  Sea  of  Tiberias.  He  went 
again  into  Galilee,  where  he  abodo 
a  little  time,  chiefly  engaged  in  in- 
structing the  apostles.  The  princi- 
pal subject  of  his  teachings  was  his 
own  death.  Betrayed — Delivered. 
The  original  does  not  convey  the 
idea  of  treachery.  Exceeding  sorry 
— It  would  be  a  total  misconception 
of  their  state  to  suppose  that  they 
had  any  unwillingness  to  be  saved 
by  the  death  of  Christ  as  an  atone- 
ment for  sin.  That  his  death  was 
necessary  for  such  a  purpose  is  a 
fact  to  the  knowledge  of  which  they 
had  not  attained.  The  possibility 
of  such  a  painful,  and,  in  the  eye3 
of  men,  disgraceful,  termination  of 
his  career,  makes  them  exceeding 
sorry.  All  their  misconceptions, 
however,  will  soon  be  removed,  and 
Peter  and  all  the  apostles  but  Judas 
will  stand  forth  as  bold  advocates 
of  the  necessity  of  Christ's  death. 

21.  Come  to  Capernaum — After 
how  many  days  or  weeks  it  is  im- 
possible to  tell.  Tribute  money 
— Literally  translated,  the  didrach- 
ma,  equivalent  to  the  Jewish  half- 
shekel.  This  latter  is  approved  by 
Dr.  Schaff  and  others  as  the  better 
translation.  A  silver  shekel,  coined 
by  Simon  the  Maccabee,  has,  on  the 


208 


MATTHEW. 


of  whom  do  the  kings  of  the 
earth  take  custom  or  tribute? 
of  their  own  children,  or  of 
strangers  ? 

26  Peter  saith  unto  him,  Of 
strangers.      Jesus   saith   unto 


one  side,  the  inscription  Shekel  Is- 
rael, with  a  vase  over  which  was 
the  first  letter  of  the  Hebrew  alpha- 
bet. On  the  other  side  is  a  twig 
with  three  buds,  and  the  inscription, 
Jerusalem  Kedushah  ;  that  is,  Je- 
rusalem the  Holy.  A  silver  half- 
shekel  of  the  same  period  is  stamped 
the  same,  with  the  word  chatsi, — 
a  half.  The  half-shekel  "is  differ- 
ently estimated  from  fifty  to  seventy 
cents."  It  was  required  of  every 
male  Jew  who  was  twenty  years  old, 
or  more,  toward  the  support  of  the 
temple  service  (Ex.  30  :  13-15),  "in 
whatever  part  of  the  world  he  might 
be  living.  Large  sums  were  thus 
collected  in  Babylon  and  other 
Eastern  cities,  and  were  sent  to 
Jerusalem  under  a  special  escort." 
The  collectors,  meeting  Peter,  put 
the  question,  Doth  not  your  master 
pay  tribute?  It  is  possible  that  the 
collectors  were  pushed  forward  with 
the  question  by  the  enemies  of  Je- 
sus. The  form  of  the  question  looks 
as  if  the  demand  were  made  for  the 
first  time. 


him,    Then    are    the   children 
free. 

27  Notwithstanding,  lest  we 
should  offend  them,  go  thou  to 
the  sea,  and  cast  a  hook,  and 
take  up  the  fish  that  first  cora- 


Shekel. 


25.  lie  saith,  Yes — We  cannot 
see,  as  some  do,  anything  "hasty" 
in  the  affirmative  character  of  Pe- 
ter's answer.  Nothing  ii  our  Lord's 
life  could  have  justified  Peter  in  an- 
swering otherwise.  He  had  never 
known  Jesus  averse  to  any  of  the 


instituted  services  of  the  temple.  It 
is  very  true  that  Peter  saw  but  in- 
distinctly that  Christ  was  himself 
Lord  of  the  temple,  but  had  he  seen 
this  truth  with  clearness,  how  could 
he  have  been  justified  in  committing 
his  Master  against  the  payment? 
Ought  he  to  have  regarded  Jesus  as 
not  human  because  seeing  him  as 
more  than  human  ?  Prevented — An- 
ticipated him  by  speaking  first. 

26.  Of  whom  do  the  kings — Kings 
do  not  take  customs  or  tribute  of 
their  own  sons, — the  princes, — but 
of  strangers ;  that  is,  of  those  who 
are  their  subjects.  It  is  implied  that 
he  himself,  being  the  Son  of  the 
King  to  whom  the  temple  belongs, 
is,  in  his  higher  nature,  not  required 
to  pay  the  customary  sum.  By 
using  the  plural,  children,  he  seems 
to  teach  that  in  consequence  of  his 
spiritual  relations  to  himself  Peter 
also  is  free  from  the  obligation. 
Many  hold,  however,  that  he  uses 
the  plural  merely  to  accord  with  the 
plural,  kings.  But  may  he  not  have 
used  it  in  anticipation  of  the  time, 
then  very  near,  when,  by  the 
termination  of  the  entire  tem- 
ple service,  "the  sons,"  that 
is,  all  his  followers,  would  in- 
deed be  "free"  from  the  obli- 
gation ? 

27.  Offend — Lest  the  non- 
payment should  be  a  ground 
of  displeasure.  Jesus  never 
offended  men  uselessly;  that  is, 
when  no  moral  end  could  be 
gained.  A  piece  of  money — A  sta- 
ter. "The  stater  must  here  mean 
a  silver  tetradrachm  ;  and  the  only 
tetradrachms  then  current  in  Pal- 
estine were  of  the  same  weight  as 
the  Hebrew  shekel.  And  it  is  ob- 
servable,   in    confirmation    of   the 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


209 


eth  up ;  and  when  thou  hast 
opened  his  mouth,  thou  shalt 
find  a  piece  of  mone3r :  that 
take,  and  give  unto  them  for 
me  and  thee. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

AT  the  same  time  came  the 
disciples  unto  Jesus,  say- 
ing, Who  is  the  greatest  in  the 
kingdom  of  heaven? 


minute  accuracy  of  the  evange- 
list, that  at  this  period  the  silver 
currency  in  Palestine  consisted  of 
Greek  imperial  tetradrachms,  or 
staters,  and  Roman  denarii  of  a 
quarter  their  value,  didrachms  hav- 
ing fallen  into  disuse.  Had  two  di- 
drachms been  found  by  St.  Peter, 
the  receivers  of  tribute  would  scarce- 
ly have  taken  them ;  and,  no  doubt, 
the  ordinary  coin  paid  was  that  mi- 
raculously supplied."  —  Reginald 
Stuart  Poole,  of  the  British  Muse- 
um. For  me  and  thee — As  the  coin 
to  be  found  was  equal  to  two  half- 
shekels,  it  would  pay  for  both. 

It  will  be  observed  that  this  mira- 
cle was  wrought  for  the  supply  of 
the  Saviour's  personal  want,  and 
that  in  this  respect  it  differs  from 
all  the  other  miracles  reported.  But 
as  it  is  entirely  improbable  that  so 
small  a  sum  could  not  have  been 
procured  in  some  unmiraculous  way, 
we  must  consider  the  miracle  as 
wrought  for  the  moral  end  of 
strengthening  Peter's  faith,  and, 
through  the  record,  our  own  also. 
That  Peter  caught  several  fish,  and 
that  the  money  was  obtained  by  sell- 
ing them,  as  the  deniers  of  miracles 
have  said,  can  be  believed  by  none 
who  study  God's  word  in  the  spirit 
of  Christ.  That  Jesus  provided  for 
the  payment  of  only  Peter's  tax  is 
none  of  our  business.  That  ;ill  the 
other  apostles  were  too  young  to  be 
18* 


2  And  Jesus  called  a  little 
child  unto  him,  and  set  him 
in  the  midst  of  them, 

3  And  said,  Verily  I  say  un- 
to you,  Except  ye  be  converted, 
and  become  as  little  children, 
ye  shall  not  enter  into  the  king- 
dom of  heaven. 

4  Whosoever  therefore  shall 
humble  himself  as  this  little 
child,  the  same  is  greatest  in 
the  kingdom  of  heaven. 


taxed  is  a  supposition  that  nobody 
has  authority  to  make. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

JESUS'  DISCOURSE  TO  THE  DISCIPLES. 


783  U.C.    Autnuin,  A.I>.  29. 

Jesus  is  supposed  to  be  yet  in  Ca- 
pernaum. If  the  several  parts  of 
this  discourse  were  not  spoken  upon 
the  same  occasion,  most  of  them 
were  doubtless  spoken  at  times  very 
near  to  each  other,  and  while  the 
occasion  which  led  to  the  first  part 
was  still  fresh  in  the  memory  of  his 
disciples.  Owing  partly,  perhaps, 
to  the  influence  of  the  scribes  and 
Pharisees,  and  partly  to  his  avoid- 
ance of  publicity,  the  people  are 
less  inclined  to  be  with  him.  As  he 
is  soon  to  go  up  to  Jerusalem,  it  is 
of  special  importance  that  still  fur- 
ther instruction  be  given  to  the  dis- 
ciples. 

1.  Imperfect  views  of  the  nature 
of  the  Messiah's  kingdom  still  lin- 
gered in  the  minds  of  the  disciples. 
Jesus  had  shown  a  preference  in 
some  respects  for  Peter,  James,  and 
John,  and  in  some  respects  for  Pe- 
ter alone.  In  their  walk  to  Caper- 
naum, they  fell  into  a  dispute  on 
the  question,  who  should  have  the 
highest   place  in  the  kind  of  king- 


210 


MATTHEW. 


5  And  whoso  shall  receive 
one  such  little  child  in  nry 
name  receiveth  me. 

6  But  whoso  shall  offend  one 
of  these  little  ones  which  be- 
lieve in  me,  it  were  better  for 
him  that  a  millstone  were 
hanged  about  his  neck,  and 
that  he  were  drowned  in  the 
depth  of  the  sea. 


dom  which  they  believed  was  about 
to  be  set  up.  Underneath  was  the 
conviction,  with  great  confidence  in 
his  wisdom  and  love,  that  Jesus  was 
the  Messiah ;  but  this  unholy  state 
of  mind,  ambition  in  some,  envy  in 
others,  must  be  removed. 

3.  Converted — Not  regenerated, 
but  turned,  that  is,  from  their  am- 
bition and  envy.  As  little  children 
— It  is  not  here  implied  that  little 
children  are  sinless,  but  they  are 
sufficiently  free  from  such  faults  as 
the  Saviour  is  rebuking  to  answer 
for  an  appropriate  symbol.  They 
feel  their  helplessness  and  depend- 
ence. These  twelve  men,  grouped 
silently  around  this  little  child  and 
their  loved  and  loving  Master,  to 
learn  the  duty  of  humility,  con- 
stitute one  of  the  most  touching  pic- 
tures in  the  New  Testament.  Enter 
is  emphatic.  Without  humility  they 
cannot  even  enter  the  kingdom. 
Christ's  is  the  only  true  standard  of 
estimating  greatness.  Desire  for 
greatness  in  the  church  may  be 
strong  when  desire  for  greatness  in 
the  world  has  been  conquered. 
Sensitiveness  respecting  position  in 
the  church  or  in  the  ministry  may 
become  so  great  as  to  mar  one's 
usefulness  and  destroy  one's  com- 
fort. 

5.  A  little  child — A  little  child  as 
a  symbol  of  one  who  is  a  little  child 
in  spirit,  and  therefore,  chiefly  the 
latter.  Receiving  such  a  one  is 
loving  him.  If  we  love  him,  we 
shall  do  for  him  whatever  his  wants 
may  require,  even  if  it  should  be  a 


7  %  "Woe  unto  the  world  be- 
cause of  offences  !  for  it  must 
needs  be  that  offences  come ; 
but  woe  to  that  man  by  whom 
the  offence  cometh ! 

8  Wherefore  if  thy  hand  or 
thy  foot  offend  thee,  cut  them 
off,  and  cast  them  from  thee : 
it  is  better  for  thee  to  enter  in- 
to life  halt  or  maimed,  rather 


menial  service  (John  13:  14).  But 
it  must  be  done  in  my  name — To 
make  such  an  act  proof  of  qualifica- 
tion for  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  it 
must  be  done  on  the  ground  of  the 
person's  relation  to  Christ.  If  it  is 
done  to  secure  merit,  or  if  it  is 
done  in  mere  natural  affection,  it  is 
no  evidence  that  Christ  has  been  re- 
ceived. So  far  as  our  own  acts, 
however  Christian  in  form,  are 
wanting  in  reference  to  Christ,  they 
are  not  Christian  in  spirit. 

6.  Shall  offend — Shall  cause  one 
of  these  little  ones  to  stumble. 
"Apostasy  from  the  faith  is  not  all 
that  is  meant.  Whatever  may  be 
the  influence  by  which  the  believer 
is  turned  aside  from  the  right  way, 
darkening  his  own  spirit  with  error 
and  sin,  that  is  comprehended  in 
this  term,  and  is  subject  to  the  woe 
denounced  in  the  next  verse." — Co- 
nant.  Millstone — See  note  on  24  : 
41.  "The  common  millstone  rare- 
ly exceeds  two  feet  in  diameter.  .  .  . 
It  was  sometimes  fastened  to  the 
necks  of  criminals  who  were  to  be 
drowned."  —  ffackett.  Our  Lord 
must  not  be  understood  as  approv- 
ing this  or  any  other  form  of  civil 
punishment  for  the  sin  referred  to. 
It  is  his  figurative  way  of  saying 
that  God  will  visit  such  a  man  with 
severe  punishment. 

7-9.  Because  of  offences — On  ac- 
count of  causes  or  grounds  of  sin. 
Be  careful,  therefore,  says  Christ, 
lest  thy  hand  or  thy  foot  cause  thee 
to  sin.  See  note  on  Matt.  5  :  29,  30. 
Everlasting  fire — See  note  on  5  :  22, 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


211 


than  having  two  hands  or  two 
feet  to  be  cast  into  everlasting 
fire. 

9  And  if  thine  eye  offend 
thee,  pluck  it  out,  and  cast  it 
from  thee  :  it  is  better  for  thee 
to  enter  into  life  with  one  eye, 
rather  than  having  two  eyes  to 
be  cast  into  hell  fire. 


second  and  third  paragraphs ;  25 : 
46. 

10.  Take  heed  .  .  .  for  I  say  un- 
to you,  are  forms  of  speech  which 
show  the  high  estimate  which  Jesus 
puts  upon  those  of  his  people  who 
are  children  in  spirit,  whether  young 
or  old,  rich  or  poor,  learned  or  un- 
learned. Their  angels — Acts  12  : 
15,  Then  they  said,  It  is  his  angel, 
is  considered  by  some  as  clearly  im- 
plying that  every  Christian  has  a 
particular  guardian  angel.  We  pre- 
fer the  view  held  by  Dr.  Hackett  in 
his  Commentary  on  the  Acts  :  "This 
idea  appears  here  not  as  a  doctrine 
of  the  Scriptures,  but  as  a  popular 
opinion  which  is  neither  affirmed 
nor  denied."  That  there  are  beings 
in  heaven  who,  in  intellect  and  char- 
acter, are  superior  to  men,  and  that 
they  are  employed  in  some  kind  of 
service  "on  account  of  those  who 
are  to  obtain  salvation,"  is  certain, 
but  that  Jesus  intended  to  teach  that 
each  Christian  is  under  the  charge 
of  a  given  angel  is  too  hastily  con- 
cluded from  the  passage  before  us  ; 
and  as  there  is  no  other  verse  in  the 
Bible  that  even  seems  to  teach  the 
doctrine,  the  least  that  we  can  do  is 
to  hold  the  question  in  suspense. 
The  general  idea  may  be  this,  that 
the  children  of  God  are  objects  of 
special  interest  with  the  angels. 

That  "the  whole  discourse  is  in 
deep  and  constant  reference  to  the 
covenant  with  infants"  (Alford)  is 
impossible ;  for  no  covenant  with 
infants,  having  reference  to  their 
salvation,  was  ever  made.  The  cove- 
nant of  circumcision  cught  not  to  be 


10  Take  heed  that  ye  despise 
not  one  of  these  little  ones  ;  for 
I  say  unto  you,  That  in  heaven 
their  angels  do  always  behold 
the  face  of  my  Father  which  is 
in  heaven. 

11  For  the  Son  of  man  is 
come  to  save  that  which  was 
lost. 


confounded  with  the  covenant  of 
grace.  In  the  covenant  of  grace, 
God  promises  to  make  men  his 
through  fa ith.  By  the  covenant  of 
circumcision,  Abraham  was  made 
the  father  of  the  Jews  as  a  nation. 
In  that  covenant  infants  were  in- 
cluded. By  the  covenant  of  grace 
he  was  made  the  head,  not  of  be- 
lievers and  their  infant,  non-believ- 
ing seed,  but  of  believers  only.  If 
one  asks,  Who  are  the  children  of 
the  covenant,  the  true  reply  is,  The 
children  of  Abraham.  If  it  is  asked, 
Who  are  the  children  of  Abraham, 
the  true  reply  is,  They  that  have 
Abraham's  faith.  As  infants  cannot 
believe,  they  cannot  be,  in  the  lan- 
guage of  Paul,  the  children  of  Abra- 
ham ;  and  as  they  are  not  the  chil- 
dren of  Abraham,  they  cannot  be  the 
children  of  the  covenant  of  grace, 
whatever  may  be  said  of  them  as 
children  of  the  covenant  of  circum- 
cision. 

11-14.  Jesus  here  enforces  the 
duty  of  refraining  from  whatever 
may  injure  his  children.  Lost — 
Under  sin  and  exposed  to  eternal 
punishment,  but  the  Son  of  man 
came  to  save  them.  It  is  not  the 
will  of  your  Father,  etc.  With 
this  union  of  interest  between  the 
Father  and  the  Son,  the  "little 
ones  "  will  not  be  permitted  to  per- 
ish. Why,  then,  should  you  de- 
spise them?  Into  the  mountains — 
Where  the  flock  had  been  and  where 
the  lost  one  may  yet  be.  Or,  the 
arrangement  of  the  words  may  be 
this  :  Does  he  not  leave  the  ninety 
and  nine  upon  the  mountains,  and 


212 


MATTHEW. 


12  How  think  }^e?  If  a  man 
have  a  hundred  sheep,  and  one 
of  them  be  gone  astray,  doth 
he  not  leave  the  ninety  and 
nine,  and  goeth  into  the  moun- 
tains, and  seeketh  that  which 
is  gone  astray  ? 

13  And  if  so  be  that  he  find 
it,  verily  I  say  unto  you,  he  re- 
joiceth  more  of  that  sheep,  than 
of  the  ninety  and  nine  which 
went  not  astray. 

14  Even  so  it  is  not  the  will 
of  your  Father  which  is  in 
heaven,  that  one  of  these  little 
ones  should  perish. 

15  %  Moreover  if  thy  brother 
shall  trespass  against  thee,  go 


go  and  seek?  But  who  are  the 
ninety  and  nine  that  went  not 
astray  ?  Luke  15:7:  More  than 
over  ninety  and  nine  just  persons 
which  need  no  repentance.  We  do 
not  understand  our  Lord  as  teaching 
that  there  is  such  a  difference  in 
the  character  of  men  that  some  are 
by  nature  lost,  and  others  not  lost ; 
some  just  and  others  not  just.  The 
difficulty  of  the  parable  may  be  met 
thus :  Were  it  supposable  that 
there  are  any  who  are  not  lost,  yet  I 
came  to  save  the  lost.  The  point 
of  the  illustration  is  in  the  words, 
seeketh  that  which  is  gone  astray. 
The  words,  ninety  and  nine  which 
went  not  astray,  are  not  made  by 
the  divine  Teacher  himself  tf/*e  point 
or  even  a  point.  It  should  not  be 
made  a  point  by  us.  The  allusion 
to  the  ninety  and  nine  was  of  course 
indispensable  in  order  to  give  any 
significancy  whatever  to  the  one. 
The  Christian,  whether  a  minister 
or  not,  that  docs  not  teach  that  men 
are  lost,  does  not  teach  what  Christ 
taught.  Let  us  meditate  much  upon 
Christ  as  a  shepherd  seeking  lost 
sheep.  Let  us  sympathize  in  his 
joy  at  finding  them.     Let  the  Sab- 


and  tell  him  his  fault  between 
thee  and  him  alone  :  if  he  shall 
hear  thee,  thou  hast  gained  thy 
brother. 

16  But  if  he  will  not  hear 
thee,  then  take  with  thee  one  or 
two  more,  that  in  the  mouth 
of  two  or  three  witnesses  every 
word  may  be  established. 

17  And  if  he  shall  neglect 
to  hear  them,  tell  it  unto  the 
church :  but  if  he  neglect  to 
hear  the  church,  let  him  be  un- 
to thee  as  a  heathen  man  and 
a  publican. 

18  Verily  I  say  unto -you, 
Whatsoever  ye  shall  bind  on 
earth  shall  be  bound  in  heaven  ; 


bath-school  teacher   explain  to  his 
class  how  Christ  seeks  the  lost. 

15-18.  Moreover — But,  turning 
us  to  the  opposite  possibility.  He 
has  spoken  of  my  sinning  against 
another.  He  noAv  speaks  of  another 
as  sinning  against  me.  The  law  in 
such  a  case  is  this  :  First.  I  must 
go  and  tell  him  his  fault  alone. 
Christ  thus  forbids  me  to  report  it 
even  to  the  church,  and  forbids  the 
church  to  give  it  any  consideration, 
and  forbids  my  pastor  to  allow  me 
to  speak  of  it  to  the  church.  The 
reference  is  clearly  to  a  personal 
wrong,  not  to  an  injury,  committed 
against  no  one  in  particular.  Tell 
— This  fails  to  express  the  meaning, 
which  is,  to  shoiv  him,  to  try  to  con- 
vince him,  of  the  wrong  done. 
Gained, — Brought  him  back  into 
union  with  God  and  therefore  with 
yourself.  Mark  this,  that  you  are 
not  to  wait  for  him  to  come  to  you. 
Secondly.  If  my  brother  refuses  to 
acknowledge  the  wrong,  I  must 
take  one  or  two  more.  If  our 
united  efforts  effect  the  necessary 
change,  that  ends  it;  if  they  fail, 
the  one  is  to  serve  with  me  as  a 
witness,   or,  if  I  take  two,  the  two 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 


213 


and  whatsoever  ye  shall  loose 
on  earth  shall  be  loosed  in 
heaven. 

19  Again  I  say  unto  you, 
That  if  two  of  you  shall  agree 
on  earth  as  touching  anything 
that  they  shall  ask,  it  shall  be 


are  to  act  with  me  as  witnesses,  be- 
fore the  church,  that  every  word 
which  he  may  utter  expressive  of 
his  unwillingness  to  confess  the 
wrong  may  be  established.  See 
John  8:  17.  Thirdly.  Tell  it  unto 
the  church — To  that  body  of  be- 
lievers of  which  you  are  both  mem- 
bers. It  is  remarkable  that  Mr. 
Wesley  could  explain  it  as  meaning, 
Tell  it  to  the  elders  of  the  church. 
Alford,  however,  though  an  Episco- 
palian, says,  "  It  cannot  mean  the 
Church  as  represented  by  her 
riders"  and  "Nothing  can  be  fur- 
ther from  the  spirit  of  our  Lord's 
command  than  proceedings  in  what 
are  oddly  enough  called  '  ecclesi- 
astical courts.' "  As  to  vs.  18,  see 
on  16  :  19  concerning  binding  and 
loosing. 

"The  decline  of  and  the  difficul- 
ties attending  upon  the  exercise  of 
scriptural  discipline,  constitute  glar- 
ing evidence  of  the  sad  decay  of  our 
State  Churches."  Such  is  the  tes- 
timony of  one  who,  by  his  residence 
in  Europe,  could  judge  well  of  what 
he  spoke.  The  evangelical  churches 
of  the  United  States  should  take 
warning.  Discipline  is  here  also  so 
much  neglected  that  we  are  shorn 
of  half  our  strength.  Discipline  is 
the  more  needed  in  consequence  of 
the  unseemly  haste  with  which 
many  pastors  and  evangelists  en- 
courage professing  converts  to  offer 
themselves  for  baptism. 

19,  20.  If  two  .  .  .  as  touching 
anything — Observe  the  smallness 
of  the  number,  and  the  greatness  of 
the  range  of  objects  promised. 
Notice  also  that  even  this  small 
number  is  upon  the  earth,  while  he 
of  whom  the  things  are  to  be  asked 


done  for  them  of  my  Father 
which  is  in  heaven. 

20  For  where  two  or  three 
are  gathered  together  in  my 
name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst 
of  them. 

21  %  Then  came  Peter  to 

is  in  heaven.  In  my  name — (a.) 
With  confidence  in  Christ's  charac- 
ter and  work  as  they  are  regarded 
by  the  Father;  (&.)  With  the  mind 
of  Christ;  (c.)  With  acceptance  of 
all  the  truth  which  Christ  has  re- 
vealed. See  note  on  John  16  :  23, 
24.  Wiere  .  .  .  there — Unlimited, 
then,  as  to  place  or  time.  See  28  : 
20  :  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even 
unto  the  end  of  the  world.  But  is 
there  no  limitation  in  respect  to 
objects  of  prayer?  The  true  an- 
swer to  this  question  may  be  seen 
in  1  John  5  :  14.  If  we  ask  anything 
according  to  his  will,  he  heareth  us. 
He  that  prays  in  the  name  of  Christ, 
as  above  explained,  will  not  pray 
for  anything  which  it  is  not  God's 
will  to  grant.  Two  are  enough  to 
constitute  a  church  of  Christ.  If 
in  a  church  of  one  hundred  there 
are  only  two  who  can  agree  to  ask 
God  for  a  given  thing,  the  unbelief 
and  remissness  of  the  ninety-eight 
are  not  a  necessary  bar  to  the  suc- 
cess of  the  two  in  prayer.  "Accord- 
ing to  Jewish  notions,  there  must 
at  least  ten  persons  be  assembled  in 
a  synagogue,  that  th«y  may  have  a 
well-founded  hope  that  the  Sheki- 
nah  of  the  Divine  Presence  will  be 
granted,  and  their  prayer  be  heard 
and  answered.  The  rabbinical 
writers  say,  '  A  smaller  number 
God  despises.'" — Dr.  Nast.  The 
remarkable  declaration  contained 
in  these  verses  demonstrates  that 
the  religion  of  Christ  is  infinitely 
superior  to  all  the  forms  of  natural 
religion.  The  most  enlightened 
and  virtuous  heathen,  Socrates, 
for  example,  had  no  such  assur- 
ance. 

21,    22.  Jesus   had  virtually  en- 


214 


MATTHEW. 


him,  and  said,  Lord,  bow  oft 
shall  my  brother  sin  against 
me,  and  I  forgive  him?  till 
seven  times? 

22  Jesus  saith  unto  him,  I 
say  not  unto  thee,  Until  sev- 
en times :  but,  Until  sevent}' 
times  seven. 

23  f  Therefore  is  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  likened  unto  a 
certain  king,  which  would  take 
account  of  his  servants. 

24  And  when  he  had  begun 
to  reckon,  one  was  brought  un- 
to him,  which  owed  him  ten 
thousand  talents. 


joined  the  duty  of  forgiveness. 
Peter  inquires  how  often  he  ought 
to  forgive.  Penitence  before  each 
instance  of  forgiveness  is  of  course 
implied.  The  question  ought  not 
to  be  regarded  as  indicative  of 
peculiar  narrowness  of  spirit. 
That  Peter  extended  the  number  to 
seven,  shows  the  advance  which  he 
had  made  under  the  teachings  of 
Christ  beyond  the  Jewish  Rabbins  ; 
for  these  taught  that  forgiveness 
should  be  extended  only  to  the 
third  time.  Seventy  times  seven — 
Either  seventy-seven  times,  or, 
which  is  more  probable,  four  hun- 
dred and  ninety  times.  It  was  the 
same  as  to  say,  Do  not  forgive  by 
weight  and  measure.  Have  no 
theory  of  limitation.  As  often  as 
your  brother  does  you  a  wrong  and 
manifests  penitence,  forgive  him. 
How  can  the  Christian  think  this 
too  great  a  demand  ?  Will  he  not 
have  been  forgiven  by  his  heavenly 
Father  ten  thousand  times  ten 
thousand? 

23.  Therefore — Since  forgiveness 
should  be  extended,  without  limit, 
to  the  penitent.  The  object  of  the 
parable  is,  to  enforce  the  duty  of 
forgiveness  by  showing  how  God 
will  deal  with  men  of  an  unforgiv- 
ing  spirit.      Would  take  account — 


25  But  forasmuch  as  he  had 
not  to  pay,  his  lord  commanded 
him  to  be  sold,  and  his  wife, 
and  children,  and  all  that  he 
had,  and  payment  to  be  made. 

26  The  servant  therefore  fell 
down,  and  worshipped  him, 
saying,  Lord,  have  patience 
with  me,  and  I  will  pay  thee 
all. 

27  Then  the  lord  of  that 
servant  was  moved  with  com- 
passion, and  loosed  him,  and 
forgave  him  the  debt. 

28  But  the  same  servant 
went  out,  and  found  one  of  his 


Desired  to  make  a  reckoning  with. 
His  servants — His  attendants,  or, 
perhaps,  tributary  princes.  They 
were  not  necessarily  slaves, 
though,  in  some  cases,  in  oriental 
courts,  such  officers  were  slaves. 
These  men  seem  to  have  had  charge 
of  the  king's  financial  affairs. 

24,  25.  Ten  thousand  talents — 
About  ten  millions  of  dollars.  It 
well  represents  the  vast  indebted- 
ness of  sinful  men  to  their  Maker. 
Sins  are  debts.  Had  not  to  pay — 
Was  not  able  to  pay.  How  can 
man's  indebtedness  to  God  be  paid? 
Who  will  pay  it? 

26.  Worshipped — Bowed,  pros- 
trated himself.  Will  pay  all — A 
daring  avowal,  but  not  so  daring  as 
that  of  the  men  who  profess  ability 
to  square  their  account  with  God  by 
honesty,  generosity,  and  punctual 
attendance  upon  the  services  of  re- 
ligion. 

27.  Forgave  him — This  is  no 
proof  that  sinners  are  forgiven  by 
the  mercy  of  God  without  an  atone- 
ment ;  for  Christ  does  not  here  pro- 
fess to  give  an  exhaustive  view  of 
the  way  of  salvation.  The  different 
parts  of  the  plan  were  revealed  pro- 
gressively, as  the  minds  of  the  peo- 
ple were  able  to  receive  them. 

28.  Went    out — Implying    that 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


215 


fellow  servants, which  owed  him 
a  hundred  pence :  and  he  laid 
hands  on  him,  and  took  him  by 
the  throat,  saying,  Pay  me  that 
thou  owest. 

29  And  his  fellow  servant 
fell  down  at  his  feet,  and  be- 
sought him,  saying,  Have  pa- 
tience with  me,  and  I  will  pay 
thee  all. 

30  And  he  would  not :  but 
went  and  cast  him  into  prison, 
till  he  should  pay  the  debt. 

31  So  when  his  fellow  ser- 
vants saw  what  was  done ,  they 
were  very  sorry,  and  came  and 
told  unto  their  lord  all  that  was 
done. 

32  Then  his  lord,  after  that 
he  had  called  him,  said  unto 
him,  O  thou  wicked  servant,  I 
forgave  thee  all  that  debt,  be- 
cause thou  desiredst  me : 

33  Shouldest  not  thou  also 

little  time  elapsed  between  his  for- 
giveness and  his  severity  toward 
one  of  his  own  debtors.  Pence — 
Denaries.  A  denary  was  fifteen 
cents.  Fifteen  dollars  were  more 
to  this  man  than  the  ten  millions 
which  he  had  owed  to  his  king. 
How  exact  a  representation  of  those 
who  imperil  their  souls  for  money  ! 
Yet  this  does  not  express  the  point 
of  the  parable,  which  is  not  love  of 
money,  but,  as  above,  the  duty  of 
forgiveness.  By  the  throat — "  Ac- 
cording to  Roman  law,  a  creditor 
was  allowed  to  drag  his  debtor  by 
the  throat  before  the  tribunal." 
"  Such  is  man,  so  harsh  and  hard, 
when  he  walks  otherwise  than  in  a 
constant  sense  of  forgiveness  from 
God." 

30,  31.  He  would  not — "  Here  is 
the  climax  of  depravity,  to  be  beg- 
gars with  God  and  tyrants  to  our 
brethren."     Very  sorry — As  we  are 


have  had  compassion  on  thy 
fellow  servant,  even  as  I  had 
pity  on  thee  ? 

34  And  his  lord  was  wroth, 
and  delivered  him  to  the  tor- 
mentors, till  he  should  pay  all 
that  was  due  unto  him. 

35  So  likewise  shall  my 
heavenly  Father  do  also  unto 
you,  if  ye  from  your  hearts  for- 
give not  every  one  his  brother 
their  trespasses. 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

AND  it  came  to  pass,  that 
when  Jesus  had  finished 
these  sayings,  he  departed  from 
Galilee,  and  came  into  the 
coasts  of  Judea  beyond  Jor- 
dan ; 

2  And  great  multitudes  fol- 
lowed him  ;  and  he  healed  them 
there. 


all  debtors  to  God,  anger  toward 
the  wrong-doer  is  sinful.  But  in- 
difference to  wrong  is  also  sinful. 

34.  Wroth— God's  anger  is  the 
displeasure  of  an  infinitely  holy 
being.  Tormentors—11'  Among  the 
ancient  Romans  there  were  certain 
legal  tortures,  as  a  heavy  chain  and 
a  system  of  half-starvation,  which 
the  creditor  might  apply  to  his 
debtor,  for  bringing  him  to  terms." 
Says  Prof.  Bartlett,  in  his  ' '  Life  and 
Death  Eternal :  "  "It  was  invaria- 
bly used  in  examining  slaves.  '  The 
parties  interested  either  superin- 
tended the  torture  themselves,  or 
chose  certain  persons  for  this  pur- 
pose ;  hence  called  tormentors.'' " 
The  meaning,  prison-keeper,  is  de- 
fended by  some. 

35.  So  likewise — How  severe  the 
punishment  threatened  to  an  un- 
forgiving spirit!  The  nature  and 
duration  of  the  punishment  should 


216 


MATTHEW. 


3  %  The  Pharisees  also  came 
unto  him,  tempting  him,  and 
saying  unto  him,  Is  it  lawful 
for  a  man  to  put  away  his  wife 
for  every  cause? 

4  And  he  answered  and  said 
unto  them,  Have  ye  not  read, 
that  he  which  made  them  at  the 
beginning  made  them  male  and 
female, 

5  And  said,  For  this  cause 


be  viewed  in  the  light  of  25  :  46,  on 
which  see  note.  From  your  hearts 
— Words  alone  will  not  answer. 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

PINAL  DEPARTURE  FROM  GALILEE; 
THE  DIVORCE  QUESTION  ;  THE  RICH 
TOUNG  MAN. 

78»  U.C.    November,  A.».  39. 

1.  Departed  from  Galilee — For 
the  last  time.  His  labors  of  love  in 
that  northern  part  of  the  land  are 
closed.  He  goes  to  Jerusalem,  but 
not  directly.  He  labors  here  and 
there,  but  with  bis  eye  fixed  (Luke 
9: 51)  upon  the  city  where  he  is  to 
offer  up  his  life  for  the  salvation  of 
men.  But  before  this  last  journey, 
he  did  much  which  Matthew  was  not 
inspired  to  report.  He  had  attended 
the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  at  Jerusa- 
lem (John  7:  2,  10),  where  the 
Pharisees  attempted  to  arrest  him, 
and  where  he  healed  the  man  blind 
from  his  birth,  and  had  returned  to 
Galilee.  There  is,  indeed,  room  for 
much  difference  of  opinion  concern- 
ing the  order  of  events  during  the 
last  five  months  of  our  Lord's  life, 
but  at  least  this  seems  probable,  that 
Jesus  returned  to  Galilee  after  the 
Feast  of  Tabernacles.  The  coasts 
of  Judea  beyond  Jordan — The  re- 
gion referred  to  was  Perea.  See 
note  on  4 :  25,  under  the  word  Pe- 
rea. "The  direction  of  this  jour- 
ney is  plain.     Leaving  Galilee,  Je- 


shall  a  man  leave  father  and 
mother,  and  shall  cleave  to  his 
wife :  and  they  twain  shall  be 
one  flesh? 

6  Wherefore  they  are  no 
more  twain,  but  one  flesh. 
What  therefore  God  hath 
joined  together,  let  not  man 
put  asunder. 

7  They  say  unto  him,  Why 
did  Moses   then  command  to 


sus  crosses  the  Jordan,  and  pass- 
ing southward  through  Perea,  thus 
comes  to  the  borders  of  Judea, 
probably  near  Jericho." — Andrews. 

T83  TT.C.  February,  JL.  ».  80. 

3.  Matthew,  as  the  other  evange- 
lists lead  us  to  suppose,  omits  much 
that  occurred  even  upon  this  last 
journey.  At  precisely  what  point 
of  it  the  event  recorded  in  this  verse 
occurred,  it  is  impossible  to  deter- 
mine, but  there  are  reasons  for 
placing  it  in  the  latter  part.  The 
date  must  therefore  be  regarded  as 
only  an  approximation  to  the  true 
one.  Let  the  student  still  bear  in 
mind  that  the  journey,  though  di- 
rected toward  Jerusalem,  was  cir- 
cuitous. Tempting — See  note  on  16  : 
1.  Compare  what  is  here  said  upon 
divorce  with  what  is  said  5  :  31,  32. 
These  Pharisees,  acting  doubtless 
in  the  interest  of  the  conspiracy 
against  his  life,  mean  to  make  him 
commit  himself  to  the  one  or  the 
other  of  the  parties  into  which  the 
scribes  and  Pharisees  were  divided 
on  the  subject  of  divorce,  the  one 
being  strict  and  the  other  loose.  It 
is  possible,  though  there  is  no  proof 
of  it,  that  they  had  in  mind  the 
adultery  of  Herod  Antipas  (14 : 
3-10),  and  hoped  to  be  able  to  re- 
port to  Herod  what  would  make  Je- 
sus as  obnoxious  as  John  the  Baptist 
became. 

4-6.  Have  ye  not  read  /—See  Gen. 
1:27;  2  :  24.     Without  in  the  least 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


217 


give  a  writing  of  divorcement, 
and  to  put  her  away  ? 

8  He  saith  unto  them, Moses 
because  of  the  hardness  of  your 
hearts  suffered  you  to  put  away 
your  wives :  but  from  the  be- 
ginning it  was  not  so. 


compromising  the  divine  law,  he 
commits  himself  to  neither  party. 
The  line  of  argument  is  well  drawn 
by  Dr.  Conant:  "The  Saviour,  in 
reply  to  the  treacherous  question  of 
his  enemies,  argues  first  (in  vs.  4) 
from  what  the  Creator  did,  and  sec- 
ondly (in  vs.  5)  from  what  he  said, 
stating  his  own  conclusion  in  vs.  6. 
His  brief  statement  of  the  case  in 
this  verse"  [4]  "contains  the  two 
following  points  :  — 

"  He  who  made  them  from  the  he- 
ginning  (from  their  first  creation)  : 
that  is,  the  original  Author  of  their 
being,  whose  will  is  therefore  its 
primary  law ; 

' '  Made  them  male  and  female  : 
showing  by  this  his  own  purpose  in 
their  creation,  namely,  that  they  are 
made  the  one  for  the  other ;  a  rela- 
tion to  which  all  others  must  yield, 
%nd  which,  as  being  ordained  by  God, 
can  be  severed  only  by  him. 

"  Such  is  the  Saviour's  argument 
from  the  original  creation  of  man ; 
and  no  moral  truth  can  be  more 
clearly  demonstrated.  .  .  .  The  ar- 
gument turns  on  the  relation  of  sex, 
and  not  on  the  numerical  ratio  of 
the  two  sexes  at  their  creation.  The 
latter  consideration  was  not  essen- 
tial here ;  for  the  question  was  not, 
whether  a  man  may  have  more  wives 
than  one,  but  whether  he  may  put 
away  the  one  wife  he  has." 

7-9.  Writing  of  divorcement — 
See  note  on  5  :  31,  32.  Moses  had 
not  commanded,  instituted,  origi- 
nated, the  sundering  of  the  marriage 
tie.  He  found  the  practice  existing. 
The  hardness  of  the  people's  hearts 
relative  to  the  matter  was  great. 
The  evil  had  become  deeply  rooted. 
It  vxmld  tot  L?  immediately  ve- 
VJ 


9  And  I  say  unto  you,  Who- 
soever shall  put  away  his  wife, 
except  it  be  for  fornication,  and 
shall  marry  another,  commit- 
teth  adultery  :  and  whoso  mar- 
rieth  her  which  is  put  away 
doth  commit  adultery. 


moved.  It  must  therefore  be  so 
hedged  about  that  there  should  be 
great  difficulty  in  securing  separa- 
tion. Such  difficulty  would  be  cre- 
ated by  requiring  a  bill  of  divorce- 
ment. Such  a  bill  ' '  would  in  ancient 
times  require  the  intervention  of  a 
Levite,  not  only  to  secure  the  for- 
mal correctness  of  the  instrument, 
but  because  the  art  of  writing  was 
then  generally  unknown.  This 
would  bring  the  matter  under  legal 
authority,  and  tend  to  check  the 
rash  exercise  of  the  right  by  the  hus- 
band." Moses'  law  of  marriage  was 
a  civil  law.  Under  the  peculiar  dif- 
ficulties by  which  Moses  was  beset, 
it  was  not  intended  to  be  a  full  ex- 
pression of  the  moral  law  of  mar- 
riage as  originally  promulgated  by 
God.  The  Saviour  teaches  both 
here  and  in  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  what  that  moral  law  is,  and 
by  that  he  expects  his  churches  to 
be  governed.  The  law  as  expressed 
in  vs.  9  is  plain.  There  is  but  one 
cause  for  which  a  man  may  put 
away  his  wife.  Want  of  "spiritual 
affinity,"  intemperance,  neglect  to 
provide  for  the  family,  desertion, 
are  not  sufficient  causes  for  divorce. 
Separation  from  "bed  and  board  " 
is  doubtless  justifiable  in  cases  of 
great  and  long  protracted  intemper- 
ance, and  of  neglect  to  provide. 
Whatever  the  law  of  Massachusetts 
or  Illinois,  or  any  other  State,  may 
permit,  the  churches  of  Christ  must 
require  their  members  to  conform 
to  the  law  of  marriage  as  defined  by 
Christ ;  and  ministers  of  the  gospel 
should  not  allow  themselves  to  be 
participants  in  the  crime  by  uniting 
in  marriage  persor^  the  one  or  the 
c^her    2f  wh<*m,  acceding  *<»  Ovx 


218 


MATTHEW. 


10  %  His  disciples  say  unto 
him,  If  the  case  of  the  man  be 
so  with  his  wife,  it  is  not  good 
to  marry. 


Lord's  interpretation  of  the  original 
law,  is  already  in  the  marriage  re- 
lation. 

"The  Prussian  laws  on  marriage, 
dating  from  the  infidel  reign  of 
Frederic  II.,  are  scandalously  lax 
and  demoralizing,  by  increasing  the 
causes,  and  facilitating  the  accom- 
plishment, of  divorce.  With  the  re- 
vival of  true  Christianity  in  Prussia, 
a  reform  movement  commenced, 
which  aims  at  a  return  to  the  law 
of  Christ."— Dr.  Schaff.  Similar 
laxness  has  marked  and  disgraced 
legislation  in  many  of  the  States  of 
our  own  country.  "  In  Indianapo- 
lis, in  1866,  there  were  eight  hun- 
dred and  twenty-two  marriages,  and 
two  hundred  and  ten  applications 
for  divorce,  which  is  more  than  one 
to  four  of  the  whole  number  of  mar- 
riages. In  Chicago,  the  same  year, 
there  were  four  thousand  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty-two  marriages,  and 
three  hundred  and  thirty-eight  ap- 
plications for  divorce.  The  various 
courts  of  Chicago  granted  bills  of 
divorce  in  1865  to  the  number  of 
two  hundred  and  seventy-four;  in 
1866  the  number  was  two  hundred 
and  nine ;  in  1867  the  number 
reached  three  hundred  and  eleven." 
In  1868,  the  number  of  divorces 
was  four  hundred  and  forty-three.  * 
Thus  in  the  one  city  of  Chicago 
there  were  in  four  years  one  thou- 
sand two  hundred  and  thirty-seven 
divorces!  In  Vermont  "there  is 
one  divorce  to  every  two  hundred 
and  sixty-six  marriageable  persons, 
or  one  man  in  every  one  hundred 
and  thirty -three  men,  and  one  wom- 
an in  every  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
three  women,  with  the  enormous 
ratio  of  one  divorce  to  every  nine- 
teen marriages."  In  Massachusetts, 

*  .Not  alJ   were  cases  of  residents. 


11  But  he  said  unto  them, 
All  men  cannot  receive  this 
saying,  save  they  to  whom  it  is 
given. 


"  during  the  last  five  years,  there  has 
been  one  divorce  to  forty-four  mar- 
riages (1868)."  In  Connecticut, 
during  the  same  period,  the  divorces 
have  been  to  the  marriages  as  one 
to  eleven.  In  Maine,  the  applica- 
tions in  the  fall  of  1868  numbered 
more  than  five  hundred,  and  they 
are  continually  increasing  "in  con- 
sequence of  the  increased  facilities 
that  have  of  late  years  been  afforded 
dissatisfied  couples  for  release  from 
matrimonial  infelicities."  The  evils 
proceeding  from  the  multiplication 
of  divorces  and  from  the  marriage 
of  persons  divorced  for  some  other 
reason  than  the  one  specified  by  our 
Lord,  are  so  alarming  that  we  hesi- 
tate not  to  say,  that  both  churches 
and  ministers  should  clear  them- 
selves of  all  responsibility  in  the 
matter.  The  churches  should  dis- 
cipline members  who  become  di- 
vorced for  any  other  than  the  scrip- 
tural reason,  members  who  marry 
with  parties  so  divorced,  and  min- 
isters who  marry  them.  See  Presi- 
dent Alvah  Hovey's  excellent  trea- 
tise on  "The  Scriptural  Law  of 
Divorce."  It  has  been  well  re- 
marked that  "where  the  legality  of 
marriage  has  been  thoroughly  un- 
dermined, and  free  love  substituted 
in  its  place  as  the  controlling  prin- 
ciple of  true  marriage,  the  writing 
of  divorcement  is  not,  like  that  of 
Moses,  intended  to  make  separation 
more  difficult,  but,  like  that  of  Hil- 
lel"  [a  Jewish  Rabbi],  "to  make  it 
more  easy."  The  following  became 
the  law  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in 
the  United  States  in  1868:  "That 
no  minister  of  this  church  shall  sol- 
emnize matrimony  in  any  case  where 
there  is  a  divorced  wife  or  husband 
of  either  party  still  living ;  but  this 
canon  shall  not  be  held  to  apply  to 
the  innocent  party  in  a  divorce  for 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


219 


12  For  there  are  some  eu- 
nuchs, which  were  so  born  from 
their  mother's  womb  :  and  there 
are  some  eunuchs,  which  were 
made  eunuchs  of  men :  and 
there  be  eunuchs  which  have 
made  themselves  eunuchs  for 
the  kingdom  of  heaven's  sake. 


the  cause  of  adultery,  or  to  parties 
once  divorced  seeking  to  be  united 
again." 

The  modern  Jews  of  course  care 
nothing  for  our  Lord's  interpreta- 
tion of  the  Mosaic  law  of  divorce. 
In  this  they  are  more  consistent 
than  some  Christians.  "A  divorce 
according  to  the  Hebrew  ecclesias- 
tical law  took  place  at  Washington, 
May,  1869.  A  married  couple,  who 
had  lived  unhappily  together,  availed 
themselves  of  the  ceremony  in  the 
presence  of  the  rabbis  and  some 
other  parties.  The  articles  of  di- 
vorcement having  been  agreed  upon 
were  transcribed  on  parchment. 
Certain  passages  of  the  Pentateuch 
were  read,  and  the  divorcement  ar- 
ticles. The  wife  was  then  called 
forward,  and  her  face  uncovered,  and 
her  hands  were  placed  together,  the 
thumbs  upward  and  extended.  One 
of  the  rabbis  asked  certain  questions 
of  the  husband,  which  were  an- 
swered, and  placed  the  parchment 
in  his  hands,  and  in  turn  the  rabbi 
took  it.  Two  persons  attested  their 
names  as  witnesses  to  file  with  the 
records  of  the  church,  the  ceremony 
closed,  and  the  parties  separated. 
By  this  ceremony,  founded  on  Deut. 
24 :  1,  2,  3,  4,  the  parties  are  sepa- 
rated and  free, — the  husband  to 
marry  another  at  any  time,  and  the 
wife  to  marry  after  ninety-one  days 
have  passed,  but  not  to  a  descend- 
ant of  the  tribe  of  Levi.  Our  civil 
laws,  however,  require  a  divorce 
granted  by  the  courts  before  they  can 
marry  again." 

10,  11.  If  the  case — If  sue  his  the 
relation  between    aan  and  woman. 


He  that  is  able  to  receive  it,  let 
him  receive  it. 

IS  %  Then  were  there  brought 
unto  him  little  children,  that 
he  should  put  his  hands  on 
them,  and  pray  :  and  the  disci- 
ples rebuked  them. 

14    But   Jesus    said,  Suffer 


His,  in  italics,  was  inserted  by  the 
translators,  and  wife  is  not  here  so 
accurate  as  woman.  The  disciples 
mean  to  say,  If  the  relation  between 
man  and  woman  is  such  that  the 
marriage  tie  is  so  nearly  indissolu- 
ble, a  man  better  not  marry  at  all. 
But  Jesus  tells  them  that  not  all 
men  can  receive  that  saying ;  name- 
ly, that  it  is  not  good,  even  with 
such  restriction,  to  marry.  The  dis- 
ciples needed  more  light,  and  the 
Saviour  gave  them  more.  To  whom 
it  is  given — Thus  our  Lord  admitted 
that  there  are  some  who  might  with 
propriety  lead  an  unmarried  life, 
while  nothing  that  he  said  gives 
countenance  to  celibacy  as  a  sys- 
tem, such  as  has  been  adopted  by 
the  Romish  Church.  Such  a  system 
leads  to  gross  immorality. 

12.  Our  Lord  divides  those  to 
whom  he  refers  in  the  last  verse  in- 
to three  classes  :  1.  Those  who  are 
incapacitated  for  the  marriage  state 
by  natural  defect;  2.  Those  who 
submit  to  mutilation  by  the  cruel 
art  of  man ;  3.  Those  who  choose 
to  live  an  unmarried  life,  with  the 
conviction,  which  Paul  himself  had, 
that  they  can  in  that  way  be  more 
useful  in  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 
The  plain  implication  is  that  most 
men  ought  not  to  live  unmarried. 
The  Romish  priesthood  would  be  a 
purer  body  had  it  not  adopted  celib- 
acy as  a  system. 

13-15.  Brought  unto  him  little 
children — Infants.  Compare  Luke 
18:  15.  Rebuked  them— Why,  we 
are  not  informed.  Of  such  is  not  a 
perfect  reproduction  of  the  Sav- 
iour's thought.     It  should  be,   To 


220 


MATTHEW. 


little  children,  and  forbid  them 
not,  to  come  unto  me ;  for  of 
such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

15  And  he  laid  his  hands  on 
them,  and  departed  thence. 

16  %  And,  behold,  one  came 
and  said  unto  him,  Good  Mas- 
ter, what   good  thing  shall  I 


such  belongs  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
But  what  does  Jesus  mean  by  such  ? 
Is  it  indicative  of  age,  or  of  charac- 
ter? In  18  :  6  he  is  represented  as 
saying,  these  little  ones  which  be- 
lieve in  me.  It  may  be  very  true 
that  infants  will  be  saved, — the  wri- 
ter has  no  doubt  they  will  be, — and 
in  that  sense,  dying,  become  mem- 
bers of  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  but 
what  Christ  teaches  in  18  :  6  is  that 
the  "  little  ones  "  are  those  who  be- 
lieve, whatever  their  age.  If  one 
has  personal  faith  in  Christ  at  the 
age  of  four  years,  and  this,  doubt- 
less, is  in  some  cases  possible,  he 
is  a  "little  one ; "  and  this  is  equal- 
ly true  of  one  who  is  eighty  years 
of  age.  So  in  the  verse  before  us. 
Of  such  indicates  character ;  that  is, 
character  which  is  symbolized  in 
the  infant.  "He  does  not  say  of 
those  infants,  but  of  such  persons  as 
resembled  them." — Barnes.  Even 
Lange,  not  a  Baptist,  says  :  "  Of 
such,  that  is,  of  all  those  that  have 
a  childlike  spirit  and  are  like  those 
little  ones  that  helieve  in  Christ. 
Compare  18  :  2-6,"  though  he  insists 
that  the  children  are  included. 
"  The  ancient  church,"  he  adds, 
"have  rightly  regarded  this  pas- 
sage as  a  proof  in  favor  of  the  doc- 
trine of  infant  baptism."  On  the 
other  hand,  Olshausen,  himself  also 
not  a  Baptist,  says  :  "Of  that  refer- 
ence to  infant  baptism  which  it  is 
so  common  to  seek  in  this  narra- 
tive, there  is  clearly  not  the  slight- 
est trace  to  be  found."  Dr.  Nast 
(Methodist)  says  :  "  In  these  words 
the  Lord  positively  declares  that  all 
children  that  die  while  they  are  un- 


do, that  I  may  have  eternal 
life? 

17  And  he  said  unto  him, 
Why  callest  thou  me  good? 
there  is  none  good  but  one,  that 
is,  God  :  but  if  thou  wilt  enter 
into  life,  keep  the  command- 
ments. 


accountable  are  entitled  to  the  bliss 
of  heaven,  and  for  the  same  reason 
while  on  earth,  to  membership  in 
his  church,  in  the  same  manner  as 
children  under  the  old  dispensation 
were  entitled  to  church  member- 
ship." The  doctrine  that  infants  may 
be  members  of  Christian  churches 
has  done  incalculable  injury  to 
Christianity.  There  is  no  infant 
membership  in  these  verses  and  no 
infant  baptism,  as  many  of  the  most 
distinguished  writers  in  other  de- 
nominations have  admitted.  The 
subject  of  infant  baptism  is  more 
fully  considered  in  the  notes  on  28  : 
19. 

16-17.  It  is  well  for  even  the 
general  student  to  know  that  the 
most  approved  Greek  of  vs.  17  yields 
a  thought  quite  different  from  that 
which  is  here  expressed,  thus  :  And 
he  said  to  him,  Why  dost  thou  ask 
me  concerning  good  ?  One  is  the 
Good.  This  is  the  form  approved 
by  the  most  eminent  scholars.  But 
turning  to  the  parallel  verses  in 
Mark  (10:  18)  and  Luke  (18:  19), 
we  find  substantially  the  same  words 
as  are  found  in  Matthew  in  our  com- 
mon English  Bibles,  and  the  com- 
mon Greek  is  also  substantially 
alike  in  the  three  Gospels.  In  Mark 
and  Luke,  however,  no  change  is 
required  either  in  the  English  or  the 
Greek.  Matthew's  report,  then,  of 
the  Saviour's  words  in  this  case,  as 
in  some  others,  is  different  from  that 
of  Mark  and  Luke, — not  contradic- 
tory, but  different.  Mark  and  Luke 
say:  Why  callest  thou  me  good? 
none  is  good  save  one,  that  is,  God. 
Matthew  says,  according  to  the  true 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


221 


18  He  saith  unto  him,  Which? 
Jesus  said,  Thou  shalt  do  no 
murder,  Thou  shalt  not  com- 
mit adultery,  Thou  shalt  not 
steal,  Thou  shalt  not  bear  false 
witness, 

19  Honour  thy  father  and  thy 
mother :  and,  Thou  shalt  lore 
thy  neighbour  as  thyself. 

20  The  young  man  saith  un- 
to him,  All  these  things  have  I 
kept  from  my  youth  up  :  what 
lack  I  }Tet  ? 


Greek,  Why  dost  ask  me  concerning 
good  ?  One  is  the  Good.  Observe 
that  in  Mark  and  Luke  the  reply  of 
our  Lord  turn6  on  the  fact  that  the 
man  applied  to  Jesus  the  term  good, 
concerning  which  see  more  in  the 
notes  on  those  Gospels.  Here  the 
Lord's  reply  turns  on  the  fact  that 
the  man  asked,  What  good  shall  I 
do?  The  jailer  at  Philippi  cried, 
What  shall  I  do  ?  This  man  cries, 
What  good  shall  I  do?  In  his 
own  opinion,  he  has  left  nothing 
undone  that  he  ought  to  have  done, 
yet  he  seems  to  think  that  possibly 
Jesus  can  tell  him  of  some  good 
thing  more  that  he  ought  to  do.  He 
is  evidently  a  Pharisee,  but  is  free 
from  the  hostility  and  even  from 
the  prejudice  which  the  Pharisees 
as  a  class  have  long  manifested 
toward  Christ.  Jesus  would  turn 
his  thoughts  away  from  whatever 
good  thing  he  might  suppose  neces- 
sary to  be  done,  and  direct  them  to 
him  who  is  The  Good.  Keep  the 
commandments,  does  not  authorize 
the  inference  that  it  is  possible  for 
any  human  being  to  secure  eternal 
life  by  the  law.  See  Romans  and 
Galatians,  where  the  mind  of  Christ 
concerning  this  point  is  fully  re- 
vealed. It  is  merely  the  Lord's 
method  of  leading  this  rich  man  to  the 
consciousness  of  his  deep  poverty. 
18-20.  Shalt  do  no  murder,  etc. 
— Jesus  quotes  from  the  second  ta- 
19* 


21  Jesus  said  unto  him,  If 
thou  wilt  be  perfect,  go  and 
sell  that  thou  hast,  and  give  to 
the  poor,  and  thou  shalt  have 
treasure  in  heaven  :  and  come 
and  follow  me. 

22  But  when  the  young  man 
heard  that  saying,  he  went 
away  sorrowful :  for  he  had 
great  possessions. 

23  %  Then  said  Jesus  unto 
his  disciples,  Verily  I  say  unto 
you,  That   a   rich   man    shall 


ble  of  the  law;  and  that,  perhaps, 
because  the  man's  religion  consisted 
chiefly  of  endeavors  to  obey  that 
part  of  the  law.  Like  many  in  our  own 
times,  the  man  thought  he  was  in  a 
fair  way,  because  he  aimed  to  con- 
duct rightly  toward  his  fellow-men. 
What  lack  I  yet  ?— Here  are  confi- 
dence that  he  has  done  all,  and  sin- 
cere desire  to  know  whether  there  is 
any  other  good  thing  which  he  may 
possibly  have  omitted.  Young  man 
— Not  probably  a  mere  youth ;  for, 
according  to  Luke,  he  was  a  rider. 
Besides,  the  word  here  rendered 
young  man  was  sometimes  applied 
to  men  who  were  thirty  and  even 
forty  years  of  age.  It  has  been 
justly  remarked  that  the  words, 
from  my  youth  up,  harmonize  bet- 
ter with  the  supposition  that  he  had 
passed  out  of  what  we  call  youth. 

21,  22.  Perfect— If  thou  art  de- 
termined to  lack  nothing,  there  is 
one  thing  more  which  thou  must  do. 
Jesus  admits  his  claim  to  have  done 
all  these  thfrigs,  but  only  for  the 
moment,  that  he  may  make  it  ap- 
pear as  it  was — groundless.  This 
he  does  by  the  two  requirements : 

1.  Dispossess  yourself  of  your  prop- 
erty by  distributing  it  to  the  poor; 

2.  Become  my  disciple.  The  for- 
mer would  test  his  profession  of 
obedience  to  the  second  table  of  the 
law ;  the  latter,  to  the  first.  Sorrow- 
fid — Some  would  have  gone  away 


MATTHEW. 


hardly  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  heaven. 

24  And  again  I  say  unto 
you,  It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to 
go  through  the  eye  of  a  needle, 
than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  God. 

25  When  his  disciples  heard 
it,  they  were  exceedingly  ama- 
zed, saying,  Who  then  can  be 
saved  ? 

26  But  Jesus  beheld  them, 
and  said  unto  them,  With  men 


angry.  What  Christ  required  in 
this  case,  he  requires,  substantially, 
in  every  case.  Had  human  learn- 
ing secured  a  stronger  hold  upon 
this  man  than  riches,  Jesus  would 
have  applied  the  test  accordingly. 
Belief  in  the  doctrine  of  eternal  life 
does  not  secure  the  gift  of  eternal 
life. 

23,  24.  Shall  hardly  enter— Rich- 
es have  great  power  to  make  men  feel 
independent  of  God.  Riches  desired 
may  prevent  entrance  into  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  as  well  as  riches  ob- 
tained. Some  very  pious  men  are 
rich,  but,  1.  The  rich  as  a  class  are 
peculiarly  averse  to  religion ;  2. 
Rich  Christians,  with  few  excep- 
tions, became  Christians  before  they 
became  rich.  The  words  camel  and 
eye  of  a  needle  should  be  taken  lit- 
erally. They  express  the  impossibil- 
ity of  entrance  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  by  one  who  is  rich,  that  is, 
by  one  who  makes  riches  the  end  of 
life.  "The  same  sayyig  occurs  in 
the  Talmud  about  an  elephant:" 
but,  as  has  been  remarked,  "the 
camel  was  more  familiar  to  the  hear- 
ers of  the  Saviour  than  the  ele- 
phant." To  say  that  by  the  eye  of 
a  needle  is  meant  a  small  gate 
through  which  a  camel  could  not 
jro,  is  an  error. 

2o\  2G.  Who  then  ? — How  can  any 
one  be  saved,  not  merely  the  rich. 
The  disciples  knew  that  most  men 


this   is  impossible ;   but  with 
God  all  things  are  possible. 

27  %  Then  answered  Peter 
and  said  unto  him,  Behold,  we 
have  forsaken  all,  and  followed 
thee  ;  what  shall  we  have  there- 
fore ? 

28  And  Jesus  said  unto 
them,  Verily  I  say  unto  you, 
That  ye  which  have  followed 
me,  in  the  regeneration  when 
the  Son  of  man  shall  sit  in  the 
throne  of  his   glory,  ye   also 


make  worldly  good  their  chief  ob- 
ject of  pursuit.  This  is  impossible 
— The  salvation  of  men,  including 
of  course  the  rich.  With  God  .  .  . 
possible — He  can  save  even  the  rich. 

27.  Forsaken  all — Some  of  them 
may  have  literally  abandoned  what 
little  property  they  had.  All  of  them 
had  forsaken  their  occupation  for 
the  sake  of  following  Christ.  Wliat 
.  .  .  therefore  f — Here  are  seen 
weakness  and  ambition,  though  in 
the  preceding  avowal,  sincerity,  love, 
and  zeal.  This  mingling  of  good  and 
evil  was  characteristic  of  all  the  dis- 
ciples till  after  their  special  enlight- 
enment upon  the  day  of  Pentecost, 
and  especially  of  Peter. 

28.  Instead  of  rebuking  his  ambi- 
tion, Jesus  encourages  his  zeal. 
Regeneration — Renovation.  It  is 
nearly  equivalent  to  restitution  of 
all  things  in  Acts  3  :  21,  which  Dr. 
Hackett  explains  as  referring  to  a 
state  of  "primeval  order,  purity, 
and  happiness,  such  as  will  exist  for 
those  who  have  part  in  the  kingdom 
of  Christ  at  his  second  coming." 
The  meaning  is,  ye  who  have  fol- 
lowed me  (this  excludes  Judas) 
shall  be  made  partakers  of  my  glory 
when  my  victories  shall  have  been 
won,  and  I  shall  come  a  second 
time.  Regeneration  must  be  con- 
nected with  the  words  which  follow, 
thus  :  Ye  which  have  followed  me, 
in  the  renovation  when  the  Son  of 


CHAPTER  XX. 


223 


shall  sit  upon  twelve  thrones, 
judging  the  twelve  tribes  of 
Israel. 

29  And  every  one  that  hath 
forsaken  houses,  or  brethren, 
or  sisters,  or  father,  or  mother, 
or  wife,  or  children,  or  lands, 
for  my  name's  sake,  shall  re- 
ceive a  hundredfold,  and  shall 
inherit  everlasting  life. 

30  But  many  that  are  first 


man  shall  sit,  etc.  The  manner  of 
representing  it,  twelve  thrones,  etc., 
is  figurative.  The  idea  of  sharing 
in  the  glory  of  Christ  is  expressed 
in  the  words,  ye  also.  The  follow- 
ers of  Christ  are  not  without  conso- 
lation and  honor  even  in  the  present 
life,  but,  in  the  words  of  Dr.  Hack- 
ett,  it  is  "then"  [at  the  second  com- 
ing], that  Christ  "will  raise  the 
dead,  invest  the  redeemed  with  an 
incorruptible  body,  and  introduce 
them,  for  the  first  time  and  forever, 
into  the  state  of  perfect  holiness  and 
happiness  prepared  for  them  in  his 
kingdom." 

30.  We  regard  these  words  chiefly 
as  a  caution  to  Peter  and  his  fellow- 
apostles  to  cherish  the  right  spirit 
relative  to  the  rewards  which  Christ 
will  see  fit  to  confer.  The  Saviour 
would  teach  them  that  by  indulging 
m  a  wrong  spirit,  they  would  be  in 
danger,  though  first  in  time  and  first 
in  personal  relations  to  himself,  of 
becoming  last;  that  is,  of  losing 
that  high  spiritual  position,  and  con- 
sequently that  great  favor  in  his 
eyes  which  they  would  otherwise 
have. 

CHAPTER  XX. 

parable  op  the  laborers;  his 
death  once  more  announced; 
Salome's  request;  two  blind 
men  cured. 

783  17.C.     March,    V.I>.  SO. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  Jesus 
is  still  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 


shall  be  last ;  and  the  last  shall 
be  first. 

CHAPTER  XX. 

FOR  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
is  like  unto  a  man  that  is 
a  householder,  which  went  out 
early  in  the  morning  to  hire 
laborers  into  his  vineyard. 
2  And  when  he  had  agreed 


Jordan,  in  Perea,  on  his  way  to 
Jerusalem.  It  is  unfortunate  that 
this  parable  of  the  laborers  was  not 
made  a  part  of  the  preceding  chap- 
ter, as  the  object  is  to  illustrate  the 
sentiment  with  which  that  chapter 
closes.  The  lessons  which  this  para- 
ble or  any  other  indirectly  suggests 
is  one  thing,  and  the  object  for 
which  it  was  spoken  is  another. 
Here  the  object  is  to  reprove  the 
hireling  spirit  which  spoke  in  Pe- 
ter, saying,  What  shall  we  have 
therefore  ? 

1.  The  kingdom  of  heaven — The 
new  dispensation.  Householder — 
God.  Early  in  the  'morning — The 
apostles  were  called  early  into  the 
service  of  their  Lord.  Vineyard — 
Not,  as  some  say,  "  The  Church." 
That  explanation  grows  out  of  wide- 
ly spread  error  relative  to  the  na- 
ture of  a  Christian  church.  Dr. 
Whedon  says,  "The  service  of  God 
on  earth."  Why  not,  then,  as  still 
better,  the  world?  Go  ye  into  all 
the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to 
every  creature. 

2,  3.  A  penny  a  day — A  denary, 
a  Roman  silver  coin,  wliich,  instead 
of  being  equal  to  one  penny,  "was 
about  seven  and  one-halfpence  ster- 
ling, or  about  fifteen  cents."  Our 
translation,  therefore,  makes  the 
pay  much  less  than  it  was.  We 
must  not  estimate  the  real  value  of 
the  wages  by  a  modern  standard. 
A  Roman  soldier  had  about  ten  cents 
a  day,  and  in  Cisalpine  Gaul  hotel 
charges  per  day,  to  use  the  modern 


224 


MATTHEW. 


with  the  labourers  for  a  penny 
a  day,  he  sent  them  into  his 
vineyard. 

3  And  he  went  out  about  the 
third  hour,  and  saw  others 
standing  idle  in  the  market- 
place, 

4  And  said  unto  them ;  Go 
ye  also  into  the  vineyard,  and 
whatsoever  is  right  I  will  give 
you.  And  they  went  their 
way. 

5  Again  he  went  out  about 
the  sixth  and  ninth  hour,  and 
did  likewise. 

6  And  about  the  eleventh 
hour  he  went  out,  and  found 
others  standing  idle,  and  saith 
unto  them,  Why  stand  ye  here 
all  the  day  idle? 

7  They  say  unto  him,  Be- 


phrase,  was  only  half  an  ass,  ten  of 
which  made  a  denary.  Third  hour 
.  .  .  sixth  and  ninth  (vs.  5)  .  .  . 
eleventh  (vs.  6) — See  note  on  14 : 
15,  under  the  words,  the  time.  Mar- 
ket-place— See  note  on  11 :  16,  sec- 
ond paragraph,  under  the  same 
word. 

4.  Whatsoever  is  right — Had  Pe- 
ter, instead  of  asking,  What  shall 
we  have  ?  been  willing  to  leave  the 
question  of  reward  to  the  decision 
of  infinite  righteousness,  it  would 
have  been  better.  He  afterward 
learned  to  do  so,  partly,  no  doubt, 
through  the  influence  of  this  very 
parable.  Very  beautifully  does  he 
say  in  his  first  epistle  (4:  19),  Let 
them  that  suffer  according  to  the 
will  of  God,  commit  the  keeping  of 
their  soids  to  him  in  well  doing,  as 
unto  a  faithful  Creator. 

7,  8.  No  man  hath  hired  us — Any 
man  to  whom  the  gospel  has  been 
preached  that  says  this  is  guilty  of 
misrepresentation,  not  to  say  of 
downright   falsehood.      Whatsoever 


cause  no  man  hath  hired  us. 
He  saith  unto  them,  Go  ye  al- 
so into  the  vineyard  ;  and  what- 
soever is  right,  that  shall  ye 
receive. 

8  So  when  even  was  come, 
the  lord  of  the  vineyard  saith 
unto  his  steward,  Call  the  la- 
bourers, and  give  them  their 
hire,  beginning  from  the  last 
unto  the  first. 

9  And  when  they  came  that 
were  hired  about  the  eleventh 
hour,  they  received  every  man 
a  penny. 

10  But  when  the  first  came, 
they  supposed  that  they  should 
have  received  more  ;  and  they 
likewise  received  every  man  a 
penny. 

11  And  when  they  had  re- 


ts right,  thai  shall  ye  receive — These 
words  are  wanting  in  some  of  the 
best  manuscripts  and  some  of  the 
oldest  versions.  With  these  men, 
no  contract  was  made.  Their  case 
presents  the  point  of  the  parable ; 
for  they  were  to  serve  as  the  mod- 
el to  Peter  and  the  other  apostles 
in  respect  to  the  spirit  with  which 
they  should  go  to  the  work  of  their 
Master.  Steward — The  household- 
er's agent  or  manager.  Chuza  was 
Herod's  steward.  Luke  8  :  3. 

10.  Supposed — Because  they  had 
worked  harder.  Complaining  be- 
cause God  gives  us  less  than  oth- 
ers, takes  from  the  gift  all  its  moral 
value. 

11,  12.  Murmured  —  Whether 
these  men  stand  for  genuine  Chris- 
tians has  been  much  and  needlessly 
debated.  It  has  been  thought  im- 
possible that  Christ  should  represent 
any  of  his  followers  as  complaining 
because  others,  for  whatever  rea- 
son, are  rewarded  as  much  as  they. 
Su  jh  expounders  lay  much  stress 


CHATTER  XX. 


225 


oeived  it,  they  murmured 
against  the  goodman  of  the 
house, 

12  Saying,  These  last  have 
wrought  but  one  hour,  and  thou 
hast  made  them  equal  unto  us, 
which  have  borne  the  burden 
and  heat  of  the  day. 

13  But  he  answered  one  of 
them,  and  said,  Friend,  I  do 
thee  no  wrong  :  didst  not  thou 
agree  with  me  for  a  penny  ? 

14  Take  that  thine  is,  and  go 
thy  way  :  I  will  give  unto  this 
last,  even  as  unto  thee. 

15  Is  it  not  lawful  for  me  to 
do  what  I  will  with  mine  own  ? 
Is  thine  eye  evil,  because  I  am 
good  ? 

16  So  the  last  shall  be  first, 


upon  the  fact  that  the  settlement  is 
made  at  the  close  of  the  day ;  that 
is,  as  they  affirm,  at  the  close  of 
life.  This,  however,  is  one  of  the 
unimportant  details  of  the  parable, 
— not  one  of  its  points.  Peter's 
wrong  spirit  had  just  been  shown ; 
that  is,  it  had  been  shown  many 
years  before  the  close  of  his  life. 
Nor  had  Peter  complained.  He 
was  only  in  danger  of  doing  so,  and 
therefore  the  Lord  so  constructed 
the  parable  that  a  warning  should  be 
given. 

16.  See  19  :  30,  and  the  remarks 
introducing  this  twentieth  chapter. 

17.  Going  up  to  Jerusalem — Ac- 
cording to  the  other  evangelists,  we 
must  suppose  Jesus  to  have  arrived 
at  the  city,  through  Perea,  some 
time  ago,  to  have  attended  the  feast 
of  Dedication,  discoursed  to  the 
Jews,  escaped  from  their  murderous 
hands  to  Bethabara  in  Perea,  to 
have  gone  to  Bethany,  near  Jeru- 
salem, where  he  raised  Lazarus,  and 
to  have  retired  to  Ephraim,  after 
learning  that  the  Sanhedrim  had 
been  summoned  together  in  Jerusa- 


and  the  first  last :  for  many  be 
called,  but  few  chosen. 

17  If  And  Jesus  going  up  to 
Jerusalem  took  the  twelve  dis- 
ciples apart  in  the  way,  and 
said  unto  them, 

18  Behold,  we  go  up  to  Je- 
rusalem ;  and  the  Son  of  man 
shall  be  betrayed  unto  the 
chief  priests  and  unto  the 
scribes,  and  they  shall  con- 
demn him  to  death, 

19  And  shall  deliver  him  to 
the  Gentiles  to  mock,  and  to 
scourge,  and  to  crucify  him: 
and  the  third  day  he  shall  rise 
again. 

20  %  Then  came  to  him  the 
mother  of  Zebedee's  children 
with  her  sons,  worshipping  him, 


lem.  The  Passover  is  just  at  hand. 
He  is  now,  therefore,  returning  to 
the  city  through  Jericho  and  Betha- 
ny. Apart — Performed  the  journey 
with  the  disciples  alone  ;  or,  at  some 
point,  separated  himself  and  disci- 
ples from  others. 

18,  19.  This  is  the  third  distinct 
announcement  of  his  death.  The 
first  is  reported  16  :  21 ;  the  second, 
17 :  23.  In  the  first  instance,  he 
told  them  that  he  must  suffer  many 
things  and  be  killed,  but  he  evi- 
dently felt  that  the  time  had  not 
come  for  making  a  more  particular 
statement.  The  second  time  he 
makes  the  additional  and  very  im- 
portant announcement  that  he  will 
be  delivered,  but  says  nothing  of 
the  persons  who  were  to  deliver. 
He  now  repeats  all  that  he  had  said 
before,  with  the  addition  that  he  will 
be  delivered  to  the  chief  priests  and 
scribes,  and  by  them  be  delivered  to 
the  Gentiles.  The  still  more  im- 
portant announcement  is  made  that 
his  death  will  be  effected  by  cruci- 
fixion. According  to  Luke,  they 
understood  none  of  these  things. 


MATTHEW. 


and  desiring  a  certain  thing  of 
him. 

21  And  he  said  unto  her, 
What  wilt  thou?  She  saith 
unto  him,  Grant  that  these  my 
two  sons  may  sit,  the  one  on 
thy  right  hand,  and  the  other 
on  the  left,  in  thy  kingdom. 


20,  21.  The  mother  of  Zebedee's 
children — Salome.  She  was  a  good 
woman.  She  stood  with  other  good 
women  where  she  could  see  Jesus 
at  the  crucifixion,  and  went  to  the 
sepulchre.  But  she  had  faults.  Be- 
lieving that  the  Saviour  was  go- 
ing to  Jerusalem  to  set  up  his  king- 
dom, she  comes  with  her  sons,  James 
and  John,  and,  in  sincere,  loving 
reverence,  desires  a  certain  thing 
of  him, — asks  something  of  him. 
In  thy  kingdom — Posts  of  honor 
next  to  Jesus  in  the  visible  kingdom, 
which  she  supposes  Jesus  is  about 
to  set  up.  Mark  says  that  James 
and  John  asked  the  favor  them- 
selves. They  asked  it  through  their 
mother.  An  ancient  writer  says  that 
they  were  ashamed  to  ask  it  them- 
selves. That  supposition  is  unnec- 
essary, for  though  the  scheme  may 
have  originated  with  the  mother,  the 
apostles,  her  sons  included,  had 
shown  an  interest  in  the  matter  be- 
fore (18 :  1),  and  had  even  had  dis- 
putes upon  the  question  who  should 
be  greatest.  We  should  not,  how- 
ever, do  either  the  mother  or  the 
sons  injustice.  The  ambitious  re- 
quest never  would  have  been  made, 
had  they  not  come  into  possession 
of  strong  faith  in  the  Messiahship 
of  Jesus. 

22.  Ye  know  not,  etc. — Ye  do  not 
realize  how  much  is  involved  in  the 
request.  Cup — See  26  :  42  ;  John 
18  :  11.  To  be  baptized  with  the  bap- 
tism that  lam  baptized  vnth — Says 
Dr.  Whcdon  :  "It  utterly  mistakes 
the  force  of  this  expression  to  make 
it  mean  immersed  with  the  immer- 
sion that  I  am  immersed  with.  To 
be  baptized  by  suffering  is  to  be  puri- 


22  But  Jesus  answered  and 
said,  Ye  know  not  what  ye 
ask.  Are  ye  able  to  drink  of 
the  cup  that  I  shall  drink  of, 
and  to  be  baptized  with  the 
baptism  that  I  am  baptized 
with?  They  say  unto  him,  We 
are  able. 


fied  with  suffering."  But  another 
Methodist  commentator,  Dr.  Wil- 
liam Nast,  comes  much  nearer  the 
truth  when  he  says,  "  The  word 
baptize  is  here  used  figuratively  for 
being  overwhelmed  with,  immersed 
in,  or  poured  upon  by  sufferings." 
Dr.  Lange  says,  "  It  may  signify  a 
festive  bath,  but  also  the  baptism 
of  blood  which  awaited  the  Lord." 
Rev.  F.  Myrick,  M.A.  (Episcopali- 
an), says  :  "It  is  generally  thought 
that  baptism  here  means  an  inunda- 
tion of  sorrows ;  that,  as  the  bap- 
tized went  down  into  the  waters, 
and  water  was  to  be  poured"  [?] 
"  over  him,  so  our  Lord  meant  to 
indicate  that  he  himself  had  to  pass 
through  '  the  deep  waters  of  afflic- 
tion.' "  Dr.  Edward  Robinson,  not 
a  Baptist,  says  on  this  passage,  in 
his  Lexicon  on  the  New  Testament, 
"  Can  ye  endure  to  be  overwhelmed 
with  sufferings  like  those  which  I 
must  endure  ?  "  Dr.  George  Camp- 
bell, not  a  Baptist,  translates,  "Can 
ye  undergo  an  immersion  like  that 
which  I  must  undergo?"  "The 
metaphorical  sense  of  overwhelming 
suffering,"  as  Dr.  Conant  justly  re- 
marks, "is  founded  on  the  idea  of 
total  submergence,  as  in  floods  of 
sorrow."  That  the  Greek  word 
means  here,  or  anywhere  else,  to 
purify,  is  without  the  shadow  of 
proof.  This  meaning  was  very 
elaborately  advocated  several  years 
ago  by  Dr.  Edward  Beecher,  but 
his  theory  failed  to  secure  the  confi- 
dence of  scholars.  See  note  on  28  : 
19.  The  Greek  language  has  a  word 
which  means  to  pour,  and  another 
which  means  to  sprinkle,  but  neither 
of  these  words  would  have  so  clear- 


CHAPTER  XX. 


227 


23  And  he  saith  unto  them, 
Ye  shall  drink  indeed  of  my 
cup,  and  be  baptized  with  the 
baptism  that  I  am  baptized 
with  :  but  to  sit  on  my  right 
hand,  and  on  my  left,  is  not 
mine  to  give,  but  it  shall  be 
given  to  them  for  whom  it  is 
prepared  of  my  Father. 

24  And  when  the  ten  heard 
it,  they  were  moved  with  indig- 
nation against  the  two  breth- 
ren. 

25  But  Jesus  called  them 
unto  him,  and  said,  Ye  know 


ly  and  forcibly  expressed  the  inten- 
sity of  our  Lord's  sufferings. 

It  should  not,  however,  be  left 
unsaid,  that  the  Greek  of  the  words, 
and  to  be  baptized  with  the  baptism 
that  I  am  baptized  with,  and  the  re- 
lated words  in  the  next  verse,  are 
not  found  in  the  oldest  manuscripts 
and  versions.  They  are  genuine, 
however,  in  Mark  10 :  38,  39. 

23.  Ye  shall  indeed  drink,  etc. — 
They  were  to  be  called  to  great  suf- 
ferings, infinitely  less,  indeed,  than 
his,  but  as  they  are  to  be  borne  for 
him,  he  represents  them  as  drinking 
his  cup,  etc.  James  was  soon  called 
to  surfer  death.  Acts  12  :  2.  Though 
John  died  a  natural  death,  he  suf- 
fered much  for  Christ.  John,  accord- 
ing to  some,  was  a  martyr  in  spirit ; 
James  a  martyr  in  spirit  and  act. 
"All  Christians  must  be  prepared  for 
one  or  the  other  of  them.  Every  one 
must  be  a  James  or  a  John."  It 
shall  be  given,  etc. — We  are  not  to 
infer  from  these  words  that  in  his 
original,  essential  nature,  Christ  was 
inferior  to  the  Father.  The  mean- 
ing may  be  this  :  It  is  not  my  spe- 
cial, exclusive  prerogative,  as  you 
seem  to  think,  to  say  who  shall  have 
positions  of  great  honor  in  my  king- 
dom, whether  on  earth  or  in  heaven. 
That  has  already  been  decided  by 
my  Father.      His  arrangements  in 


that  the  princes  of  the  Gentiles 
exercise  dominion  ovsr  them, 
and  they  that  are  great  exer- 
cise authority  upon  them. 

26  But  it  shall  not  be  so 
among  you  :  but  whosoever  will 
be  great  among  3*011,  let  him  be 
your  minister ; 

27  And  whosoever  will  be 
chief  among  you,  let  him  be 
your  servant : 

28  Even  as  the  Son  of  man 
came  not  to  be  ministered  un- 
to, but  to  minister,  and  to  give 
his  life  a  ransom  for  many. 


nature  and  grace  with  reference  to 
that  end  have  been  made. 

24.  Moved  with  indignation  is 
too  strong.  Better,  were  displeased. 
Here  is  a  touch  of  the  inspired  pen- 
cil which  is  wonderfully  lifelike. 
If  one  chooses  to  say  they  were  very 
much  displeased,  one  would  not  be 
going  beyond  the  record.  The  two 
were  ambitious  :  the  ten  were  dis- 
pleased. As  Matthew  was  one  of 
the  ten,  observe  his  honesty  in  re- 
porting it.  That  does  not  look  much 
like  forgery. 

25-28.  He  contrasts  the  spirit 
which  they  should  cherish  toward 
one  another  with  that  which  prevails 
in  the  heathen  world.  There  an 
ambitious,  overbearing,  place-lov- 
ing spirit  is  the  characteristic  of 
rulers.  In  that  is  no  true  moral 
greatness.  In  Christ's  kingdom 
greatness  must  be  estimated  by  the 
willingness  of  the  disciples  to  do  one 
another  service.  Even  as  the  Son 
of  man — How  tender  the  reproof  ! 
How  high  the  Saviour's  estimate  of 
humility  !  Ransom, — The  price  for 
any  one's  release.  For — Not  on 
behalf  of,  but  instead  of.  Christ 
now  reveals  to  them  that  the  death 
which  he  is  about  to  suffer  is  to  be 
borne  as  a  substitute  for  theirs. 
Though  they  could  not  then  have 
understood  him,  yet  their  epistles, 


MATTJiEW. 


29  And  as  the}'  departed 
from  Jericho,  a  great  multitude 
followed  him. 

30  %  And,  behold,  two  blind 
men  sitting  by  the  way  side, 
when  they  heard  that  Jesus 
passed  by,  cried  out,  saying, 
Have  mercy  on  us,  O  Lord, 
thou  Son  of  David. 

31  And  the  multitude  re- 
buked them,  because  they 
should  hold  their  peace :  but 
they  cried   the    more,  saying, 


and,  so  far  as  it  is  reported  in  the 
Acts,  their  preaching  also,  show 
that  the  Lord's  instruction  was  not 
lost.  Very  rich  are  the  sentiments 
in  John's  and  Peter's  epistles  rela- 
tive to  the  object  of  the  Lord's  death. 
Christ's  sufferings  as  a  substitute  for 
the  sinner's,  accepted  by  the  sinner 
himself,  are  the  only  ground  of  jus- 
tification. 

29.  Jericho — A  celebrated  city  ly- 
ing in  a  plain  east-north-east  from 
Jerusalem.  See  more  concerning 
it  in  the  notes  on  Luke  10  :  30.  Thus 
far,  within  seventeen  or  nineteen 
miles,  had  Jesus  advanced  toward 
the  capital.  A  great  multitude — On 
their  way  to  one  of  the  great  annual 
festivals  of  the  Jews, — the  Passover. 

30.  Two  blind  men — See  notes  on 
the  similar  account,  9  :  27-31.  Mark 
and  Luke  speak  of  one  blind  man. 
According  to  Matthew  and  Mark, 
the  healing  took  place  on  departing 
from  the  city ;  according  to  Luke,  on 
entering.  Much  needless  effort  to 
reconcile  the  little  discrepancies  has 
been  made.  '"The  difference  in 
the  account  of  the  evangelists  is  en- 
tirely unimportant,  except  as  serv- 
ing to  show  that  they  are  independ- 
ent historians ;  and  it  is  idle  to  try 
to  make  them  agree  by  the  forced 
suppositions  to  which  some  com- 
mentators have  resorted.'  It  is 
most  probable  that  two  were  healed, 
though  one  only  is  mentioned  by 


Have  mercy  on  us,  O  Lord, 
thou  Son  of  David. 

32  And  Jesus  stood  still, 
and  called  them,  and  said, 
What  will  ye  that  I  shall  do 
unto  you? 

33  They  say  unto  him,  Lord, 
that  our  eyes  may  be  opened. 

34  So  Jesus  had  compassion 
on  them,  and  touched  their 
eyes :  and  immediately  their 
eyes  received  sight,  and  they 
followed  him. 


Mark  and  Luke." — Prof.  Norton,  in 
Andrews'  Life  of  our  Lord.  As 
Alford  remarks,  "He  must  be  in- 
deed a  slave  to  the  letter  who  would 
stumble  at  such  discrepancies,  and 
not  rather  see  in  them  the  corrob- 
orating coincidence  of  testimonies  to 
the  fact  itself." 

31,  32.  Rebuked  them,  because — 
Rebuked  them  that.  The  people 
may  have  thought  it  an  indecorous 
interruption.  Jesus  thought  other- 
wise. In  a  day  or  two  the  multitude 
were  more  vociferous  in  their  cry 
of  hosanna  than  the  blind  men  had 
been  in  their  cry  for  mercy,  yet  they 
would  have  deemed  it  a  great  im- 
pertinence had  the  blind  men  re- 
buked them.  No  man  can  estimate 
the  criminality  of  interposing  an 
obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  soul  that 
is  longing  for  spiritual  light. 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Christ's  triumphal  entry  into 
jerusalem  ;  cleanses  the  tem- 
ple ;  curses  the  fig  tree ;  ut- 
ters the  parable  of  the  two 
sons,  and  the  parable  of  the 
wicked  husbandmen. 

T83  TJ.C.     Sunday,  April  », 
A.».  30. 

1.  Several  events  occurred  be- 
tween the  healing  ot  the  blind  men 


CHAPTER   XXI. 


229 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

AND  when  they  drew  nigh 
unto  Jerusalem,  and  were 
come  to  Bethphage,  unto  the 

near  Jericho  and  the  triumphal  en- 
try, but  no  mention  is  made  of  them 
by  Matthew.  According  to  Luke,  it 
may  be  inferred  that  Jesus  spent 
the  night  in  Jericho  with  Zaccheus. 
The  next  morning  he  left  Jericho, 
and  arrived  at  Bethany,  near  Jeru- 
salem, the  same  day,  Friday,  March 
31.  There  he  spent  that  night  and 
the  next  day,  which  was  the  Jewish 
Sabbath,  our  Saturday.  On  Sun- 
day, April  2,  our  Sabbath,  he  leaves 
Bethany  for  the  city.  Come  to  Beth- 
phage— House  of  Figs.  The  spot 
has  never  been  identified,  but  it  was 
evidently  very  near  to  Bethany. 
Mount  of  Olives — A  ridge  of  land 
on  the  east  of  Jersualem,  running 
north  and  south,  consisting  of  three 
elevations,  the  middle  one  of  which 
is  regarded  as  the  Mount  of  Ascen- 
sion. It  derived  its  name  from  the 
olive-trees  which  grew  there.  There 
are  a  few  olive-trees  upon  the  mount 
now.  "The  eight  aged  olive-trees, 
if  only  by  their  manifest  difference 
from  all  others  on  the  mountain, 
have  always  struck  even  the  most 
indifferent  observers.  .  .  .  They  will 
remain,  so  long  as  their  already 
protracted  life  is  spared,  the  most 
venerable  of  their  race  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  earth;  their  gnarled 
trunks  and  scanty  foliage  will  al- 
ways be  regarded  as  the  most  af- 
fecting of  the  sacred  memorials  in 
or  about  Jerusalem ;  the  most  near- 
ly approaching  to  the  everlasting 
hills  themselves  in  the  force  with 
which  they  carry  us  back  to  the 
events  of  the  Gospel  history." — 
Stanley.  Dr.  Hackett  thinks  it 
"  not  impossible  that  the  aged  olive- 
trees  may  have  sprung  from  the 
roots  of  those  which  grew  there  in 
the  days  of  Christ."     Such  are  the 


mount  of  Olives,  then,  sent  Je- 
sus two  disciples, 

2  Saying  unto  them,  Go  in- 
to the  village  over  against  you, 
and  straightway  ye  shall  find 

events  which  have  occurred  upon 
the  Mount  of  Olives,  that  the  Alps 
and  the  Andes  dwindle  into  insig- 
nificance in  the  comparison.  Over 
it,  in  tears,  fled  David  from  his  re- 
bellious son ;  on  the  eastern  side  the 
Son  of  God  looked  upon  the  unbe- 
lieving city  and  wept ;  at  its  west- 
ern foot,  in  Gethsemane,  he  suffered 
his  almost  fatal  agony ;  from  its 
summit  he  ascended  to  his  throne  in 
heaven.  "  It  took,"  says  Thomson, 
"  half  an  hour  to  walk  over  Olivet 
to  Bethany  this  morning,  and  the 
distance  from  the  city,  therefore, 
must  be  about  two  miles.  The  vil- 
lage is  small,  and  appears  never  to 
have  been  large,  but  it  is  pleasantly 
situated  near  the  south-eastern  base 
of  the  mount,  and  has  many  fine 
trees  about  and  above  it." 

2.  The  village  over  against  you — 
Bethphage.  Ass — This  animal  was 
not  chosen  as  a  symbol  of  humilia- 
tion. "The  most  noble  and  hon- 
orable amongst  the  Jews  were  wont 
to  be  mounted  on  a«ses."  "The 
most  striking  feature  in  the  Bibli- 
cal notices  of  the  horse  is  the  ex- 
clusive application  of  it  to  warlike 
operations ;  in  no  instance  is  that 
useful  animal  employed  for  the  pur- 
poses of  ordinary  locomotion  or  ag- 
riculture, if  we  except  Isaiah  28 : 
28,  where  we  learn  that  horses  (A. 
V. "  [authorized  version]  "horse- 
men) were  employed  in  threshing; 
not,  however,  in  that  case  put  in  the 
gears,  but  simply  driven  about  wild- 
ly over  the  strewed  grain."  The 
ass  was  a  symbol  of  peace.  Much 
attention  was  paid  to  the  cultivation 
of  the  breed.  The  contempt  for  the 
animal  which  is  felt  in  the  United 
States  would  have  had  little  sympa- 
thy in  Palestine.      Them — As  the 


20 


230 


MATTHEW. 


an  ass  tied,  and  a  colt  with 
her :  loose  ihem,  and  bring 
them  unto  me. 

3  And  if  any  man  say  aught 
unto  you,  ye  shall  say,  The 
Lord  hath  need  of  them  ;  and 
straightway  he  will  send  them. 

4  All  this  was  done,  that  it 
might  be  fulfilled  which  was 
spoken  by  the  prophet,  say- 
ing, 

5  Tell  ye  the  daughter  of 
Sion,  Behold,  thy  King  cometh 
unto  thee,  meek,  and  sitting 
upon  an  ass,  and  a  colt  the 
foal  of  an  ass. 

6  And  the  disciples  went, 


colt  had  never  been  used  (Mark  11 : 
2),  it  was  natural  to  take  the  mother 
too. 

3.  He  will  send  ihem — There  is 
no  evidence  of  previous  arrange- 
ment with  the  owner  of  the  animal, 
but  the  owner  was  doubtless  favor- 
ably disposed  toward  Jesus.  Jesus 
knew  what  was  in  man.  This  man's 
willingness  to  trust  an  unused  colt 
with  Jesus  is  suggestive.  The  colt 
may  be  loaned,  and  the  heart  with- 
held. If  the  heart  is  given,  all  will 
be  given. 

4,  5.  That  it  might  be  fulfilled — 
The  words  are  taken  from  Isa.  62  : 
11 ;  Zech.  9  :  9.  The  prophet  Zech- 
ariah  foretold  this  very  act  of  the 
coming  Messiah.  Daughter  of  Zi- 
on — Personification  of  Jerusalem  as 
a  woman.  The  figure  is  common  in 
the  Old  Testament. 

6,  7.  In  doing  as  Jesus  com- 
manded them,  they  were  not  aware 
that  they  were  aiding  in  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  prophecy.  See  John 
12  :  16  :  These  things  understood  not 
his  disciples  at  the  first,  etc.  But 
did  he  sit  on  both  animals  ?  The  in- 
fidel Strauss  accuses  the  evangelist 
of  so  representing  it  in  order  to  make 
Jesus  "slavishly  and  unreasonably 


and  did  as  Jesus  commanded 
them, 

7  And  brought  the  ass,  and 
the  colt,  and  put  on  them  their 
clothes,  and  they  set  him 
thereon. 

8  And  a  very  great  multi- 
tude spread  their  garments  in 
the  way ;  others  cut  down 
branches  from  the  trees,  and 
strewed  them  in  the  way. 

9  And  the  multitudes  that 
went  before,  and  that  followed, 
cried,  saying,  Hosanna  to  the 
Son  of  David :  Blessed  is  he 
that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord  ;  Hosanna  in  the  highest. 


carry  out  the  prophetic  description." 
But  in  the  words  of  Dr.  Schaff, 
"  Matthew  knew  as  much  Hebrew 
and  had  as  much  common  sense  as 
any  modern  critic  of  his  Gospel."  It 
was  the  colt  that  he  rode :  Mark, 
Luke.  Popes,  Christ's  "vicege- 
rents," have  rode  in  gorgeous  ap- 
parel on  richly  caparisoned  horses 
led  by  kings. 

8,  9.  Their  garments — Men  put 
their  garments  down  for  Jehu  to 
walk  upon.  2  Kings  9: 13.  Branches 
from  the  trees  —  The  palm-trees. 
There  were  many  species  of  the 
palm.  It  is  the  date-palm  for  which 
Syria  and  Palestine  were  distin- 
guished. Jericho  so  abounded  in 
palm-trees  that  it  was  called  the 
"city  of  palms."  The  tree  was 
beautiful  and  straight.  Hence,  in 
Solomon's  Song  (7  :  9)  it  is  used  in 
the  description  of  the  form  of  a 
beautiful  woman  :  This  thy  stature 
is  like  to  a  palm-tree.  Hence,  also, 
it  is  used  as  a  symbol  of  the  good 
man.  The  righteous  shall  flourish 
as  the  palm-tree.  Ps.  92  :  12.  In  the 
Revelation  of  John  (7  :  9)  the  saints 
are  seen  before  the  Lamb,  clothed 
with  white  robes,  and  palms  in  their 
hands.    "  It  is  curious  that  this  tree, 


CHAPTER   XXI, 


10  And  when  he  was  come 
into  Jerusalem,  all  the  city  was 
moved,  saying,  Who  is  this  ? 

11  And  the  multitude  said, 
This  is  Jesus  the  prophet  of 
Nazareth  of  Galilee. 

12  %  And  Jesus  went  into 


once  so  abundant  in  Judea,  is  now 
comparatively  rare,  except  in  the 
Philistine  plain,  and  in  the  old  Phoe- 
nicia about  Bey  rout.  A  few  years 
ago  there  was  just  one  palm-tree  at 
Jericho,  but  that  is  now  gone.  Old 
trunks  are  washed  up  in  the  Dead 
Sea.  It  would  almost  seem  as 
though  we  might  take  the  history  of 
this  tree  in  Palestine  as  emblemati- 
cal of  the  people  whose  home  was 
once  in  that  land."  Hosanna — 
Save  now ;  but  it  is  here  used  as 
a  thanksgiving  rather  than  as  a 
prayer.  The  people  took  these 
words  from  Ps.  118.  They  were  fa- 
miliar with  them  from  being  accus- 
tomed to  recite  vv.  25  and  26  at  the 
Feast  of  Tabernacles. 

The  people  were  now  evidently 
regarding  Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  but 
were  committing  the  mistake  of  sup- 
posing that  he  was  now  to  set  up  his 
kingdom  in  the  visible,  semi-politi- 
cal form  so  commonly  expected.  In 
the  graphic  words  of  Stanley,  "Two 
vast  streams  of  people  met  on  that 
day.  .  .  .  Half  of  the  vast  mass, 
turning  round,  preceded ;  the  other 
half  followed.  Gradually  the  long 
procession  swept  up  and  over  the 
ridge,  where  first  begins  '  the  de- 
scent of  the  Mount  of  Olives '  toward 
Jerusalem.  At  this  point  the  first 
view  is  caught  of  the  south-eastern 
corner  of  the  city.  The  temple  and 
the  more  northern  portions  are  hid 
by  the  slope  of  Olivet  on  the  right ; 
what  is  seen  is  only  Mount  Zion, 
now  for  the  most  part  a  rough  field, 
crowned  with  the  mosque  of  David, 
and  the  angle  of  the  western  walls, 
but  then  covered  with  houses  to  its 
base,  surmounted  by  the  castle  of 
Herod,  on  the  supposed  site  of  the 


the  temple  of  God,  and  cast 
out  all  them  that  sold  and 
bought  in  the  temple,  and  over- 
threw the  tables  of  the  money 
changers,  and  the  seats  of  them 
that  sold  doves, 

13  And  said  unto  them,  It  is 


palace  of  David,  from  which  that 
portion  of  Jerusalem,  emphatically 
the  '  City  of  David,'  derived  its 
name.  It  was  at  this  precise  point 
'  as  he  drew  near,  at  the  descent  of 
the  Mount  of  Olives,' — (may  it  not 
have  been  from  the  sight  thus  open- 
ing upon  them?) — that  the  shout  of 
triumph  burst  forth  from  the  multi- 
tude, '  Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  Da- 
vid.'" But  amid  these  joyous  out- 
bursts Jesus  weeps  over  the  unbe- 
lieving inhabitants  of  the  city.  Luke 
19:  41. 

10,  11.  All  the  city— The  excite- 
ment was  universal  and  intense. 
The  same  Greek  word  is  used  in  27  : 
51 :  The  earth  did  quake.  How 
absurd  the  theory  that  this  entry  of 
Jesus  into  Jerusalem  was  made  for 
the  purpose  of  setting  up  a  political 
kingdom,  the  attempt  proving  a 
failure  through  the  hostility  of  the 
Pharisees ! 

Monday,  April  3. 

12.  Comparing  Matthew  with 
Mark  11 :  11,  it  would  seem  that 
the  acts  here  recorded  occurred  on 
the  second  day  of  the  Lord's  arrival 
in  the  city,  that  is,  on  Monday,  Mat- 
thew omitting  to  specify  his  visit  to 
the  temple  on  the  day  of  the  tri- 
umphal entry. 

The  temple — The  Rabbins  said  : 
"The  world  is  like  to  an  eye;  the 
white  of  the  eye  is  the  ocean  sur- 
rounding the  world ;  the  black  is 
the  world  itself;  the  pupil  is  Jeru- 
salem, and  the  image  in  the  pupil, 
the  temple."  First  was  built  the 
tabernacle,  forty-five  feet  by  fifteen, 
with  its  single  court,  one  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  by  seventy-five.  Then 


232 


MATTHEW. 


written,   My    house    shall   be 
called   the   house   of   pra3Ter ; 


was  built  Solomon's  temple,  the  di- 
mensions of  every  part  of  which 
were  exactly  double  those  of  the 
tabernacle.  In  plan  it  was  only  an 
enlarged  copy  of  the  tabernacle,  but 
it  was  much  more  ornamental.  That, 
too,  had  but  one  court,  which  was 
probably  three  hundred  feet  by  one 
hundred  and  fifty, — twice  the  size 
of  the  tabernacle  court.  About  five 
hundred  and  twenty  years  before 
Christ,  was  built  the  temple  of  Ze- 
rubbabel.  Herod's  temple  was  the 
temple  of  Zerubbabel  greatly  en- 
larged and  embellished.  A  very 
particular  description  may  be  read 
in  Josephus.  The  temple  itself  was 
in  dimensions  and  arrangement  very 
similar  to  that  of  Solomon,  or  rather 
that  of  Zerubbabel, — more  like  the 
latter;  but  this  was  surrounded  by 
an  inner  enclosure  of  great  strength 
and  magnificence,  measuring,  as 
nearly  as  can  be  made  out,  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty  cubits  by  two  hun- 
dred and  forty  [two  hundred  and 
seventy  feet  by  three  hundred  and 
sixty],  and  adorned  by  porches  and 
ten  gateways  of  great  magnificence ; 
and  beyond  this  again  was  an  outer 
enclosure,  measuring  externally 
four  hundred  cubits  [six  hundred 
feet]  each  way,  which  was  adorned 
with  porticos  of  greater  splendor 
than  any  we  know  of  attached  to 
any  temple  of  the  ancient  world.  .  . 
The  most  magnificent  part  of  the 
temple,  in  an  architectural  point  of 
view,  seems  certainly  to  have  been 
the  cloisters  which  were  added  to 
the  outer  court  when  it  was  en- 
larged by  Herod.  The  royal  porch 
which  overhung  the  southern  wall, 
a  magnificent  structure,  was  sup- 
ported by  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
two  Corinthian  columns,  arranged 
in  four  rows,  forty  in  each  row.  At 
a  short  distance  from  the  front  of 
these  cloisters  was  a  marble  screen 
or  enclosure,  three  cubits  in  height, 
beautifully  ornamented  with  carv- 


but  ye  have  made  it  a  den  of 
thieves. 


ing,  but  bearing  inscriptions  in 
Greek  and  Roman  characters  for- 
bidding any  Gentile  to  pass  within 
its  boundaries.  .  .  .  The  court  of 
the  temple  was  very  nearly  a  square. 
.  .  .  To  the  eastward  of  this  was 
the  court  of  the  women.  Outside  of 
all  the  other  courts  was  the  court 
of  the  Gentiles.  Both  the  altar  and 
the  temple  were  enclosed  by  a  low 
parapet  one  cubit  in  height,  placed 
so  as  to  keep  the  people  separate 
from  the  priests  while  the  latter 
were  performing  their  functions. 
Within  this  last  enclosure  toward 
the  westward  stood  the  temple  itself. 
There  is  no  reason  whatever  for 
doubting  but  that  the  sanctuary 
always  stood  on  the  same  spot  in 
which  it  had  been  placed  by  Solo- 
mon a  thousand  years  before  it  was 
rebuilt  by  Herod. — Condensed  from, 
Mr.  James  Fergusson,  Smith's  Dic- 
tionary. 

The  temple  itself,  like  all  the  sa- 
cred buildings  that  preceded  it,  was 
divided  into  two  parts,  the  Holy 
Place,  and  the  Most  Holy  Place.  In 
the  Holy  Place  of  the  tabernacle  and 
of  Solomon's  temple  was  that  most  sa- 
cred chest  called  the  Ark  of  the  Cove- 
nant, three  and  three-fourths  feet 
long  and  two  and  one-quarter  broad 
and  deep.  On  the  upper  side  was 
the  Mercy  Seat,  on  which  stood  the 
cherubim,  one  at  each  end.  This 
was  the  symbol  of  God's  presence. 
"It  was,  however,  never  seen,  save 
by  the  high  priest,  and  resembled  in 
this  respect  the  Deity  whom  it  sym- 
bolized, whose  face  none  might  look 
upon  and  live."  What  became  of 
the  ark  when  Solomon's  temple  was 
destroyed,  is  not  known.  Its  ab- 
sence from  Herod's  temple  consti- 
tutes the  most  important  difference 
between  that  and  Solomon's. 

And  Jesus  went  into  the  temple — 
Not  into  the  building  itself,  which 
only  priests  were  permitted  to  enter, 
but  into  the  outer  court.     It  is  quite 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


233 


14  And  the  blind  and  the 
lame  came  to  him  in  the  tem- 
ple ;  and  he  healed  them. 

15  And  when  the  chief  priests 
and  scribes  saw  the  wonderful 
things  that  he  did,  and  the  chil- 
dren crying  in  the  temple,  and 
saying,  Hosanna  to  the  Son 
of  David  ;  they  were  sore  dis- 
pleased, 


certain  that  not  even  Jesus  Christ, 
though  this  was  his  Father's  house, 
was  ever  in  the  Most  Holy  Place. 
But  he  came  from  the  place  of  which 
that  was  only  a  symbol.  Sold  and 
bought — Whatever  was  necessary  in 
the  services  of  the  temple,  as  oxen, 
sheep,  and  cloves ;  perhaps  oil,  in- 
cense, and  wine.  Money-changers — 
Brokers,  men  who  accommodated 
the  Jews  that  brought  foreign  money, 
2>y  exchanging  it  for  money  that 
would  be  current  at  the  temple,  and 
enriched  themselves  by  the  exorbi- 
tant sum  which  they  charged  for  the 
exchange.  See  note  on  17  :  24.  The 
oifering  of  a  pair  of  doves  was  re- 
quired of  him  who  was  too  poor  to 
offer  a  lamb.  The  court  of  the  Gen- 
tiles had  become  a  market.  The 
abuse  was  groat.  God's  house  was 
not  erected  for  brokerage  and  cat- 
tle-selling. 

13.  Written— In  Isa.  5G  :  7 ;  Jer. 
7:11.  Thieves — Robbers.  This  is 
one  of  the  cases  in  which  the  end 
did  not  justify  the  means.  Those 
men  were  not  there  from  pious  re- 
gard to  the  wants  of  others,  but  from 
shameful  love  of  gain.  Consider  the 
exceeding  majesty  of  Jesus  and  the 
terrible  power  of  conscious  guilt. 
They  quit  the  temple-court  in  im- 
penitence. Had  they  been  penitent, 
Jesus  Avould  have  permitted  them  to 
go  further  in,  that  they  might  offer 
a  sacrifir"0  for  their  sin.  The  world 
is  God's  temple,  but  it  needs  cleans- 
ing. The  Christian  sanctuary  needs 
cleansing.     The  heart  of  every  man 

20* 


1 6  And  said  unto  him,  Hear- 
est  thou  wh&t  these  sa}'  ?  And 
Jesus  saith  unto  them,  Yea; 
have  ye  never  read,  Out  of  the 
mouth  of  babes  and  sucklings 
thou  hast  perfected  praise  ? 

17  %  And  he  left  them,  and 
went  out  of  the  city  into  Beth- 
any, and  he  lodged  there. 

18  Now  in  the  morning,  as 


is  a  temple  intended  for  the  indwell- 
ing of  God. 

14.  How  boldly  and  rapidly  here 
in  the  capital,  before  the  eyes  of  his 
bitterest  enemies,  is  he  multiplying 
proofs  of  his  Messiahship!  1.  He 
has  permitted  himself  to  receive  the 
acclamations  of  the  people ;  2.  He 
has  vindicated  the  honor  of  his  Fa« 
ther's  house  ;  3.  He  works  miracles 
in  a  court  of  the  temple  itself.  It  is 
a  mistake  to  regard  these  miracles, 
as  most  commentators  do,  chiefly  as 
exhibitions  of  mercy.  They  were 
that,  but  they  were  intended,  as 
were  all  his  miracles,  primarily,  as 
evidence  of  his  Messiahship. 

15-17.  The  chief  priests  and 
scribes,  far  from  being  convinced 
that  he  is  the  Messiah,  are  indig- 
nant. They  are  committed  against 
him,  and  no  evidence  can  suffice. 
Hearest  thou  what  these  say? — The 
question  was  uttered  in  contempt. 
They  probably  intended  to  rebuke 
him  for  permitting  himself  to  be  so 
extolled  by  the  children.  The  chil- 
dren may  hare  been  members  of  the 
temple  choir,  but  it  is  more  proba- 
ble that  they  were  attracted  to  the 
spot  from  the  streets  of  the  city  by 
the  report  of  his  presence  and  mira- 
cles. They  may  have  been  very 
pious  children,  as  many  commenta- 
tors take  for  granted,  but  their  sing- 
ing is  no  proof  of  it.  The  people 
sung  the  same  words  the  day  before, 
but  they  soon  gave  painful  evidence 
of  their  unbelief.  Never  read — In 
Ps.  8  :  2.  Perfected— Prepared,  Be- 


234 


MATTHEW. 


he  returned  into  the  city,  he 
hungered. 

19  And  when  he  saw  a  fig 
tree  in  the  way,  he  came  to  it, 
and  found  nothing  thereon,  but 


ferring  the  priests  to  these  words  of 
David  is  not  to  be  considered  as 
expressing  himself  concerning  the 
spiritual  state  of  the  children.  Dr. 
Whedon  says:  "Nor  can  there  be 
a  doubt  that  these  children  were 
moved  by  a  divine  impulse  to  utter 
these  praises."  Dr.  J.  J.  Owen 
says  better:  "We  do  not  mean 
that  they  had  any  special  illumina- 
tion or  strengthening  of  their  men- 
tal powers,  above  what  was  natural 
to  their  age.  They  cried  hosanna 
with  the  spirit  and  understanding 
of  little  children,  and  we  rob  this 
incident  of  its  power  and  moral 
beauty  in  attempting  to  explain  it 
otherwise." 

Bethany — It  is  not  certain  that 
the  meaning  generally  given  to  this 
name,  house  of  dates,  is  the  true 
one.  Some  derive  it  from  two 
words,  meaning  house  of  the  afflicted. 
There  were  two  villages  of  this 
name,  the  one  on  the  eastern  side 
of  the  Jordan  (see  John  1 :  28),  the 
other  on  the  western  side.  The 
latter  is  the  villag?  here  meant. 
"  There  never  appears  to  have  been 
any  doubt  as  to  the  site  of  Bethany, 
which  is  now  known  by  a  name  de- 
rived from  Lazarus, — el-  Azariijeh. 
It  lies  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the 
Mount  of  Olives,  fully  a  mile  beyond 
the  summit,  and  not  very  far  from 
the  point  at  which  the  road  to  Jeri- 
cho begins  its  more  sudden  descent 
toward  the  Jordan  valley.  The  spot 
is  a  woody  hollow,  more  or  less 
planted  with  fruit-trees, — olives,  al- 
monds, pomegranates,  as  well  as 
oaks  and  carobs ;  the  whole  lying 
below  a  secondary  ridge  or  hump, 
of  sufficient  height  to  shut  out  the 
village  from  the  summit  of  the 
mount."  "  Three  pathways  lead," 
says   Stanley,    "and    probably   al- 


leaves  only,  and  said  unto  it, 
Let  no  fruit  grow  on  thee 
henceforward  for  ever.  And 
presently  the  fig  tree  withered 
away. 


ways  led,  from  Bethany  to  Jerusa- 
lem ;  one,  a  steep  footpath  over  the 
summit  of  Mount  Olivet;  another, 
by  a  long  circuit  over  its  northern 
shoulder,  down  the  valley  which 
parts  it  from  Scopus"  ['the  north- 
ern outlier']  ;  "the  third,  the  natu- 
ral continuation  of  the  road  by  which 
mounted  travellers  always  approach 
the  city  from  Jericho,  over  the 
southern  shoulder,  between  the  sum- 
mit which  contains  the  tombs  of  the 
Prophets  and  that  called  the  Mount 
of  Offence.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
but  that  the  last  is  the  road  of  the 
entry  of  Christ."  Lodged  there — 
Bethany  was  the  residence  of  Mary 
and  Martha  and  their  brother  Laza- 
rus. During  the  last  of  his  minis- 
try, and  perhaps  in  the  first,  it  was 
our  Saviour's  favorite  resort.  By 
comparison  with  Mai'k,  it  would  ap- 
pear that  the  lodging  here  men- 
tioned is  not  related  in  the  order  of 
time.  It  is  believed  to  have  occurred 
on  Sunday  night.  On  the  next  day 
occurred  what  is  related  in  vv. 
12-16,  but  later  in  the  day  than  that 
which  is  narrated  in  vv.  18,  19. 

18,  19.  In  the  morning — Of  Mon- 
day, April  3.  According  to  Mark 
(11 :  12  compared  with  vs.  15)  the 
cursing  of  the  fig-tree  and  the  cleans- 
ing of  the  temple  occurred  on  the 
same  day.  But  Matthew  combines 
the  cursing  and  the  conversation  in 
respect  to  the  withering  as  if  they 
occurred  the  same  day.  He  hun- 
gered— Why  he  was  hungry  at  that 
period  of  the  day  does  not  appear. 
He  may  have  left  the  house  of  Mary 
and  Martha  before  the  family  were 
astir,  and  this  may  show  the  inten- 
sity of  his  desire  to  be  early  at  work 
again  in  the  city.  In  his  hunger  we 
see  his  humanity,  and  in  the  mira- 
cle wrought  upon  the  tree  his  deity. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


235 


20  And  when  the  disciples 
saw  it,  they  marvelled,  saying, 
How  soon  is  the  fig  tree  with- 
ered away ! 

21  Jesus  answered  and  said 
unto  them,  Verily  I  say  unto 
you,  If  ye  have  faith,  and  doubt 
not,  ye  shall  not  only  do  this 


Fig-tree  —  The  fig-tree  was  very 
common  in  Palestine,  and  it  is  found 
there  still,  though  not  in  great  abun- 
dance. In  the  way — On  the  road- 
side, and  therefore,  perhaps,  com- 
mon property,  though  this  supposi- 
tion is  not  necessary  as  a  defence  of 
the  Saviour's  purpose  to  pluck  figs 
if  he  should  find  any  there.  By  the 
laws  of  Moses  great  freedom  in  help- 
ing one's  self  to  fruit  was  allowed, 
and  Thomson  says  that  the  custom 
of  plucking  ripe  figs  as  one  passes 
by  the  orchards  is  still  universal,  .  . 
especially  from  trees  by  the  road- 
side, and  from  all  that  are  not  en- 
closed. He  came  to  it — Came  to  it, 
expecting  to  find  figs.  But  it  is  held 
that  the  season  (the  first  of  April) 
was  too  early  to  expect  figs.  Re- 
ply:  1.  Thomson  says  :  "There  is 
a  kind  of  tree  which  bears  a  large 
green-colored  fig,  that  ripens  very 
early.  I  have  plucked  them  in  May, 
from  trees  in  Lebanon,  a  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  north  of  Jerusalem, 
and  where  the  trees  are  nearly  a 
month  later  than  in  the  south  of  Pal- 
estine ;  it  does  not,  therefore,  seem 
impossible  but  that  the  same  kind 
might  have  had  ripe  figs  at  Easter, 
in  the  warm,  sheltered  ravines  of 
Olivet."  But  this  of  course  was  ex- 
ceptional. Thomson  himself  adds 
that  the  ordinary  time  for  figs,  it  is 
true  enough,  had  not  yet  arrived ; 
2.  The  fruit  of  the  fig-tree  comes  as 
soon  as  the  leaves,  and  often  sooner. 
It  matters  not  whether  this  was  the 
ordinary  time  for  figs  or  not.  As 
leaves  had  appeared,  Jesus  did  just 
what  we  should  have  do'ie,  went  to 
see  if  it  had  fiffs.    If  the  leaves  had 


which  is  done  to  the  fig  tree, 
but  also  if  ye  shall  say  unto 
this  mountain,  Be  thou  re- 
moved, and  be  thou  cast  into 
the  sea  ;  it  shall  be  done. 

22  And  all  things,  whatso- 
ever ye  shall  ask  in  prayer,  be- 
lieving, ye  shall  receive. 


appeared  before  the  ordinary  time, 
it  was  not  in  the  least  unreasonable 
to  turn  a  little  out  of  the  way  and 
see  whether  figs,  too,  had  not  ap- 
peared before  the  ordinary  time.  It 
turned  out  that  the  tree  was  preco- 
cious. It  was  a  showy  tree.  It 
made  a  boast  of  fruitfulness.  It  was 
a  lying  tree.  It  invited  people  to  be 
lieve  that  it  had  figs.  It  promised, 
by  its  foliage,  to  give  men  figs. 
Christ,  therefore,  doomed  it  to  per- 
petual barrenness.  It  is  a  great 
mistake  to  suppose  that  the  act 
sprung  from  any  feeling  whatever 
on  account  of  the  fruitlessness  of 
the  tree.  That,  to  such  a  being  as 
Jesus  Christ,  was  a  matter  of  no 
consequence.  But  the  apostles,  who 
were  looking  on,  needed  more  in- 
struction and  faith.  The  tree  was 
cursed  that  the  apostles  might  be 
blessed.  The  record  of  the  miracle 
is  full  of  solemn  warning  to  churches 
and  individuals.  The  leaves  of  a 
profession  may  exist  where  there  is 
no  fruit.  A  fruitless  profession  is  a 
perpetual  falsehood. 

Tuesday,  April  4. 

20.  Jesus  is  supposed  to  have  re- 
turned to  Bethany  on  Monday  even- 
ing, and  to  have  spent  the  night 
there.  On  Tuesday,  he  returns  to 
Jerusalem,  and  on  passing  by  the 
fig-tree,  the  disciples  exclaim,  How 
soon  is  the  fig-tree  withered  away  ! 
Is  should  be  dropped,  for  they  speak 
not  of  the  result,  is  withered,  but 
of  the  act :  How  soon  the  fig-tree 
withered  away  !  It  may  be  read  as 
a  question  :  How  did  the  fig-tree  im- 


236 


MATTHEW. 


23  %  And  when  he  was  come 
into  the  temple,  the  chief 
priests  and  the  elders  of  the 
people  came  unto  him  as  he 
was  teaching,  and  said,  By 
what  authority  doest  thou  these 
things  ?  and  who  gave  thee  this 
authority  ? 

24  And  Jesus  answered  and 
said  unto  them,  I  also  will  ask 
you  one  thing,  which  if  ye  tell 
me,  I  in  like  wise  will  tell  you 
by  what  authority  I  do  these 
things. 

25  The  baptism  of  John, 
whence  was  it?  from  heaven, 
or  of  men  ?  And  they  reasoned 
with  themselves,  saying,  If  we 
shall  say,  From  heaven ;  he 
will  say  unto  us,  Why  did  ye 
not  then  believe  him  ? 


mediately  wither  away?  The  dis- 
ciples desire  to  know  how  it  could 
have  been  done  so  quickly. 

21,22.  See  notes  on  17:  20;  18: 
19. 

23-27.  The  conflict  between  Je- 
sus and  the  rulers  is  now  more  fully 
developed.  The  chief  priests  and  the 
elders  (Mark  and  Luke  mention 
scribes  also)  came  probably  as  an 
official  deputation  from  the  highest 
Jewish  tribunal  in  the  land, — the 
Sanhedrim.  That  body  had  the 
right  to  sit  in  judgment  upon  men 
who  claimed  to  be  prophets.  They 
had  already  exercised  that  right 
relative  to  John  the  Baptist.  See 
John  1 :  19-22.  By  what  authority 
— The  scribes  who  sat  in  Moses' 
seat  considered  that  they  were  the 
only  authorized  expounders  of  re- 
ligion. Ought  not  Jesus  to  have 
given  them  a  decisive  answer  ?  Re- 
ply :  In  whatever  forms  of  law  they 
came  clothed,  their  motive  was  es- 
sentially, intensely  wicked.  They 
wanted   to   get  from   his    own  lips 


26  But  if  we  shall  say,  Of 
men  ;  we  fear  the  people ;  for 
all  hold  John  as  a  prophet. 

27  And  they  answered  Je- 
sus and  said,  We  cannot  tell. 
And  he  said  unto  them,  Nei- 
ther tell  I  you  by  what  author- 
ity I  do  these  things. 

28  f  But  what  think  ye?  A 
certain  man  had  two  sons  ;  and 
he  came  to  the  first,  and  said, 
Son,  go  work  to-day  in  my 
vineyard. 

29  He  answered  and  said,  I 
will  not ;  but  afterward  he  re- 
pented, and  went. 

30  And  he  came  to  the  sec- 
ond, and  said  likewise.  And 
he  answered  and  said,  I  go,  sir  ; 
and  went  not. 

31  Whether* of  them  twain 


avowals  which  would  answer  as 
evidence  against  him  in  the  Sanhe- 
drim. The  baptism  of  John — The 
immersion  of  John,  here  standing 
for  his  entire  work.  •  Reasoned  with 
themselves — Reasoned  among  them- 
selves. It  is  not  necessary  to  sup- 
pose that  they  returned  to  the  San- 
hedrim, and  that  the  entire  body 
entered  into  a  formal  consultation 
concerning  the  matter.  The  answer 
may  have  been  given  after  the  dele- 
gates had  briefly  consulted  among 
themselves  in  an  under  tone.  Their 
pride,  combined  with  their  hostility, 
would  have  induced  them  to  make  a 
quick  answer.  They  are  foiled,  but 
wrill  try  again.  Cannot  tell — Jesus 
had  silenced  them  by  argument.  He 
now  exposes  their  wickedness.  This 
he  does  in  three  parables :  1.  The 
two  sons  ;  2.  The  wicked  husband- 
men ;  3.  The  marriage  festival. 

28-32.  Go  work — The  Saviour's 
interpretation  (vv.  31,  32)  makes 
these  words  refer  chiefly  to  that  cri- 
sis in  one's  life, — entering  into  the 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


237 


did  the  will  of  his  father? 
They  say  unto  him,  The  first. 
Jesus  saith  unto  them,  Verily  1 
say  unto  you,  That  the  publi- 
cans and  the  harlots  go  into 
the  kingdom  God  before  3rou. 

32  For  John  came  unto  you 
in  the  way  of  righteousness, 
and  ye  believed  him  not ;  but 
the  publicans  and  the  harlots 
believed  him :  and  ye,  when 
ye  had  seen  it,  repented  not 
afterward,  that  ye  might  be- 
lieve him. 

33  %  Hear  another  parable  : 
There  was  a  certain  house- 
holder, which  planted  a  vine- 


kingdom  of  God;  that  is,  becoming 
a  disciple  of  Christ.  Doing  the 
Christian  work  which  devolves  upon 
one  after  that  crisis  has  been  passed 
is  implied,  but  is  not  directly  taught. 
/  will  not — The  quick,  blunt  reply 
of  the  grosser  class  of  sinners ;  the 
publicans  and  harlots.  I  go,  sir — 
The  equally  prompt,  more  courte- 
ous, but  boastful  response  of  legal- 
ists and  ritualists, — the  very  men 
whom  he  is  addressing.  But  when 
did  the  Pharisees  profess  a  willing- 
ness to  go  into  the  kingdom  which 
Christ  came  to  set  up  ?  Never ;  but 
they  professed  to  be  righteous.  He 
exposes  the  hollowness  of  their  pro- 
fessions, by  showing  that  they  had 
rejected  John,  who  came  preaching 
righteousness,  while  those  who  all 
their  life  had  made  no  pretension  to 
righteousness  believed  John.  Con- 
cerning the  publicans,  see  note  on 
5  :  46.  To  be  put,  in  respect  to  the 
point  named,  lower  than  publicans 
and  harlots,  must  have  been  in  the 
highest  degree  offensive  to  these 
"first-class"  men.  Go  before  you 
is  regarded  by  some  as  indicating 
that  their  case  was  not  hopeless ; 
but  see  vs.  32  :  And  ye,  when  ye  had 
seen  it — had  seen  the  publicans  and 


3Tard,  and  hedged  it  round 
about,  and  digged  a  winepress 
in  it,  and  bui't  a  tower,  and  let 
it  out  to  husbandmen,  and  went 
into  a  far  country  : 

34  And  when  the  time  of  the 
fruit  drew  near,  he  sent  his  ser- 
vants to  the  husbandmen,  that 
thejr  might  receive  the  fruits 
of  it. 

35  And  the  husbandmen  took 
his  servants,  and  beat  one,  and 
killed  another,  and  stoned  an- 
other. 

36  Again,  he  sent  other  ser- 
vants more  than  the  first :  and 
they  did  unto  them  likewise. 

harlots  believing — repented  not  af- 
terward,  that  ye  might  believe  him. 

The  parable  is  a  perfect  descrip- 
tion of  men  of  our  own  time ;  but  it 
should  be  borne  in  mind  that  it  is  a 
description  of  the  extreme  men.  Je- 
sus does  not  teach  that  the  case  of 
grosser  sinners  is  more  hopeful  than 
that  of  all  others ;  he  says  nothing 
of  that  large  class  of  persons  who 
stand  between  the  extreme  classes. 
Observation  teaches  that  moral  and 
religiously  educated  persons,  if  not 
enslaved  by  the  conviction  that  they 
are  already  so  righteous  as  to  need 
no  change,  will  more  probably  come 
to  a  penitent  acknowledgment  of 
Christ  as  a  vicarious  sacrifice  for  sin 
than  others  ;  nor  is  there  anything  in 
this  parable  that  teaches  otherwise. 

33-36.  This  parable  is  spoken 
"against"  (Mark  12  :  12)  the  Phari- 
sees. It  sets  forth  the  success  of 
their  murderous  purpose,  and  the 
consequent  transfer  of  their  privi- 
leges to  others.  Vineyard — The 
vine  was  so  much  cultivated  in  Pal- 
estine, and  was  such  an  emblem  of 
peace,  as  to  give  rise  to  the  saying, 
They  shall  sit  every  man  under 
his  vine.  "  The  first  parable," 
says  Stanley,  "that  rises  before  the 


238 


MATTHEW. 


37  But  last  of  all  he  sent 
unto  them  his  son,  saying,  They 
will  reverence  my  son. 

38  But  when  the  husband- 


mind  of  the  traveller  as  he  enters 
Judea  from  the  desert,  is  that  of  the 
vineyard.  .  .  .  Here,  more  than 
elsewhere,  are  to  be  seen  on  the 
sides  of  the  hills,  the  vineyards, 
marked  by  their  watch-towers  and 
walls,  seated  on  their  terraces, — 
the  earliest  and  latest  symbol  of 
Judah.  The  elevation  of  the  hills 
and  table-lands  of  Judah  is  the  true 
climate  of  the  vine,  and  at  Hebron, 
according  to  the  Jewish  tradition, 
was  its  primeval  seat."  Hedge — Of 
stones,  or  of  thorns,  or  both.    Wine- 


men  saw  the  son,  they  said 
among  themselves,  This  is  the 
heir  ;  come,  let  us  kill  him,  and 
let  us  seize  on  his  inheritance. 


WINE-PRESS. 

press — "The  wine-press  of  the  Jews 
consisted  of  two  receptacles  or  vats, 
placed  at  different  elevations,  in  the 
upper  one  of  which  the  grapes  were 
trodden,  while  the  lower  one  re- 
ceived the  expressed  juice.  .  .  The 
two  vats  were  usually  dug  or  hewn 


out  of  the  solid  rock.  Ancient  wine- 
presses, so  constructed,  are  still  to 
be  seen  in  Palestine,  one  of  which 
is  thus  described  by  Dr.  Robinson  : 
'  Advantage  had  been  taken  of  a 
ledge  of  rock ;  on  the  upper  side  a 
shallow  vat  had  been  dug,  eight  feet 
square,  and  fifteen  inches  deep.  Two 
feet  lower  down,  another  smaller 
vat  was  excavated,  four  feet  square 
by  three  feet  deep.  The  grapes 
were  trodden  in  the  shallow  upper 
vat,  and  the  juice  drawn  off  by  a 
hole  at  the  bottom  (still  remaining) 
into  the  lower  vat.'" — Smith's  Dic- 
tionary. A  tower — "Such 
towers  are  still  in  use  in  Pal- 
estine in  vineyards,  especially 
near  Hebron,  and  are  used  as 
lodges  for  the  keepers  of  the 
vineyards.  During  the  vin- 
^  tage,  they  are  filled  with  per- 

£  sons  employed  in  the  work  of 

gathering  grapes."  Went  into 
afar  country,  should  be  went 
into  another  country,  or,  went 
abroad.  The  original  express- 
es no  such  idea  as  that  of 
distance.  Householder — God. 
Vineyard — The  nation  of  Is* 
rael.  Husbandmen  —  The 
leading  men,  those  on  whom 
devolved  the  chief  responsibil- 
ity of  keeping  the  nation  in 
harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the 
Mosaic  economy.  Applied  to 
the  Saviour's  time,  it  refers 
to  the  Pharisees,  scribes,  and 
priests.  Servants — Messen- 
gers commissioned  at  different  pe- 
riods to  aid  the  people  to  attain  to 
righteousness.  In  this  sense  they 
were  to  receive  the  husbandmen's 
fruit. 

37.  His  son — The  Pharisees  could 
have  had  no  difficulty  in  understand- 
ing this  as  referring  to  himself.  Last 
of  all — Afterward,  say  many ;  but 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


239 


39  And  they  caught  him, 
and  cast  him  out  of  the  vine- 
yard, and  slew  him. 

40  When  the  lord  therefore 
of  the  vineyard  cometh,  what 
will  he  do  unto  those  hus- 
bandmen ? 

41  They  say  unto  him,  He 
will  miserably  destroy  those 
wicked  men,  and  will  let  out 
his  vineyard  unto  other  hus- 
bandmen, which  shall  render 
him  the  fruits  in  their  seasons. 

42  Jesus  saith  unto  them, 


it  is  not  the  less  true  that  Jesus 
Christ  is  God's  last  messenger  to  the 
Jews,  as  he  is  the  last  to  the  world. 
Notice  how  distinct  from  the  proph- 
ets is  the  Son  of  God,  and  how  su- 
perior. Mark  (12  :  6)  makes  it  still 
clearer :  Saving  yet  therefore  one 
son,  his  well  beloved.  "Christian- 
ity older  than  Christ,"  and  "  Chris- 
tianity one  of  many  religions,  and, 
therefore,  like  others  destined  to 
fall,"  are  sayings  which,  in  the  light 
of  this  verse,  are  seen  to  have  origi- 
nated with  the  father  of  lies. 

38,  39.  Heir— The  Son  of  God 
was  appointed  heir  of  all  things. 
Heb.  1 :  2.  Let  us  kill  him — See 
John  11 :  53,  for  proof  that  the 
priests  and  Pharisees  had  already 
resolved  to  put  him  to  death.  Who 
can  describe  their  feelings  as  these 
words  fell  upon  their  ears  ?  Their 
depravity,  however,  enables  them  to 
assume  the  appearance  of  ignorance 
of  his  meaning. 

41.  Will  .  .  .  destroy  those  wick- 
ed men — An  answer  made  under  the 
pretence  of  missing  his  meaning. 
Miserably  destroy,  is  in  the  original 
so  peculiar  as  scarcely  to  admit  of 
adequate  expression  in  English. 
"  He  will  wretchedly  destroy  those 
wretches,"  brings  out  the  play  of  the 
words  as  well  as  can  be  done. 

42.  Hever read— InPs.  118  : 22,23. 


Did  ye  never  read  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, The  stone  which  the 
builders  rejected,  the  same  is 
become  the  head  of  the  cor- 
ner :  this  is  the  Lord's  doing, 
and  it  is  marvellous  in  our 
eyes? 

43  Therefore  say  I  unto  you, 
The  kingdom  of  God  shall  be 
taken  from  you,  and  given  to 
a  nation  bringing  forth  the 
fruits  thereof. 

44  And  whosoever  shall  fall 
on  this  stone  shall  be  broken : 


Christ  is  here  represented  as  a  stone, 
which  the  Jewish  rulers,  the  build- 
ers of  God's  spiritual  house,  answer- 
ing to  the  husbandmen  in  the  para- 
ble, rejected, — disallowed.  They  did 
not  allow  his  claims,  and  therefore 
rejected  him.  Yet  he  became  the 
corner-stone.  The  corner-stone — 
That  which  serves  both  to  build  up- 
on and  to  bind  the  two  adjoining 
walls  together.  In  the  latter  view, 
all  the  stones  of  each  of  the  four 
corners  of  a  building  are  corner- 
stones. Peter  (Acts  4 :  10,  11) 
quotes  some  of  the  same  words  when 
arrested  and  brought  before  the  San- 
hedrim, applying  them  with  great 
boldness  to  Jesus,  whom  they  had 
so  recently  crucified.  See  also  1 
Peter  2 :  4. 

43.  Therefore — Because  you  are 
rejecting  me,  as  I  have  illustrated 
in  the  parable.  The  kingdom  of 
heaven — The  Christian  dispensation, 
but  with  special  reference  to  its 
privileges.  Be  taken  from  you — 
Not  exclusively,  or  even  chiefly,  to 
the  Jews  as  a  people  was  the  gospel 
preached.  It  began  to  be  preached 
to  them,  but,  as  they  rejected  it,  it 
was  preached  at  last  chiefly  to  Gen- 
tiles, and  has  been  preached  chiefly 
to  Gentiles  ever  since.  This  view, 
however,  should  not  be  held  as  ex- 
cluding reference  to  the  true  people 


240 


MATTHEW. 


but  on  whomsoever  it  shall 
fall,  it  will  grind  him  to  pow- 
der. 

45  And  when  the  chief  priests 
and  Pharisees  had  heard  his 
parables,  they  perceived  that 
he  spake  of  them. 

46  But  when  they  sought  to 
lay  hands  on  him,  they  feared 


of  God,  whether  Gentiles  or  Jews. 
Acts  15  :  14,  and  especially  Rom.  9  : 
30-33. 

44.  The  popular  interpretation  of 
the  first  part  of  this  verse  is  incor- 
rect,— that  those  who  fall  upon 
Christ  as  their  Saviour  shall  be 
blessed  with  brokenness  of  spirit. 
Christ  here  represents  himself  as  a 
stone  of  stumbling ;  that  is,  as  a 
stone  against  which  one  may  stum- 
ble and  be  broken,  ruined.  This  is 
precisely  what  Christ  was  to  the 
scribes  and  the  Pharisees.  Hence 
Peter,  in  his  first  epistle  (2:  8), 
speaks  of  Christ  as  being  to  the  diso- 
bedient a  stone  of  stumbling  and  a 
rock  of  offence,  even  to  them  which 
stumble  at  the  word.  According  to 
Dr.  Whedon,  the  meaning  is  that 
one  may  "get  bruised,  or  have  a 
limb  broken,  perhaps ;  but  may  re- 
cover himself  and  place  himself  up- 
on the  corner-stQne," — a  view  which 
is  not  easily  suggested  by  the  words, 
and  one  which  seems  to  have  no 
support  in  other  parts  of  the  Bible. 
On  whomsoever  it  shall  fall — See 
Dan.  2 :  34,  35.  Here  the  stone  is 
conceived  as  loosened  from  its  place, 
as  a  stone  from  a  mountain,  and 
crushing  that  upon  which  it  falls. 
It  is  thus  that  Christ  teaches  that 
his  displeasure  shall  fall  with  de- 
structive weight  upon  those  who  re- 
ject him.  Many  are  the  ways  in 
which  Christ  may  become  a  stum- 
bling-stone. The  Pharisees  denied 
his  Messiahship.  Some,  in  our  own 
day,  admitting  that  he  was  a  good 
man,  disbelieve  his  miracles  and  his 
supernatural  conception.  Some,  ac- 


the  multitude,  because 
took  him  for  a  prophet. 

CHAPTER  XXH. 


they 


XjL  spake  unto  them  again  by 
parables,  and  said, 

2  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is 


cepting  these,  deny  his  deity  and 
the  vicariousness  of  his  sufferings. 
Others,  believing  all  this,  are  yet 
unwilling  to  lead  the  life  of  self-de- 
nial wluch  he  requires  in  order  to  be 
his  disciples.  Others,  oppressed  by 
a  conscious  load  of  sin,  imagine  that 
the  spotless  purity  of  his  character 
is  an  obstacle  to  their  pardon,  and 
it  would  be  were  it  not  for  that  right- 
eousness which  arises  from  his  aton- 
ing death. 

45,  46.  Perceived  that  he  spake 
of  them — Ministers  and  Sabbath- 
school  teachers  should  so  preach 
that  a  similar  effect  shall  be  pro- 
duced upon  their  hearers.  Feared 
the  multitude — They  were  guilty, 
therefore,  even  then,  of  murder. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

the  parable  op  the  marriage 
festival;  the  Pharisees,  the 
herodians,  and  the  sadducees 
aim  to  ensnare  jesus  with  per- 
plexing questions. 

783  U.C.     Tuesday,  April  4, 
A.».  30. 

The  supposition  that  the  Pharisees 
departed  after  Jesus  spoke  the  last 
parable  is  unnecessary.  It  is  still 
Tuesday,  and  Jesus  is  still  in  the 
temple-court. 

1-3.  A  marriage — Not  merely 
the  marriage  strictly  so  called,  but 
chiefly  the  marriage  festival.  It  rep- 
resents the  privileges  of  the  Chris- 
tian dispensation.  King — God.  Son 
— Jesus   Christ.     Servants  —  God's 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


241 


like  unto  a  certain  king,  which 
made  a  marriage  for  his  son, 

3  And  sent  forth  his  servants 
to  call  them  that  were  bidden 
to  the  wedding:  and  they 
would  not  come. 

4  Again,  he  sent  forth  other 
servants,  saying,  Tell  them 
which  are  bidden,  Behold,  I 
have  prepared  my  dinner :  my 
oxen  and  my  fatlings  are  killed, 
and  all  things  are  ready  :  come 
unto  the  marriage. 

5  But  they  made  light  of  it, 
and  went  their  ways,  one  to  his 


messengers  to  men,  but  not  those 
of  the  old  times.  The  last  parable 
took  us  back  into  the  days  of  the 
prophets.  This  begins  very  near 
where  that  ended.  Observe  that 
here  it  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven, — 
the  new  dispensation.  John  and 
Christ's  apostles  were  sent  to  the 
Jews  to  invite  them  to  come  to  the 
banquet  of  God's  love.  In  oriental 
countries  it  was  the  practice  to  send 
two  invitations  to  a  feast,  the  first, 
general ;  the  second,  particular,  in 
the  sense  of  apprising  the  bidden 
that  preparation  had  been  made. 

4-6.  Other  servants — There  is  no 
necessity  for  regarding  this  as  mean- 
ing totally  different  messengers. 
They  include  both  the  apostles,  who 
often  repeated  the  invitation  sent  to 
the  Jews,  and  any  others  who, 
sooner  or  later,  before  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem,  united  in  the 
work  of  calling  the  Jews  to  the 
blessings  of  Christ's  kingdom.  The 
point  in  this  part  of  the  parable  is 
the  repetition  of  the  summons, 
whether  by  precisely  the  same  mes- 
sengers or  not.  In  these  repeated 
invitations  we  see  evidence  of  God's 
sincere  desire  that  the  Jews  might 
be  saved.  Fatlings — Animals  that 
had  been  fatted  for  slaughter.  All 
things  are  ready — A  cheering  word 
for  those  who  are  themselves  ready. 
21 


farm,  another  to  his  merchan- 
dise : 

6  And  the  remnant  took  his 
servants,  and  entreated  them 
spitefully,  and  slew  them. 

7  But  when  the  king  heard 
thereof,  he  was  wroth :  and  he 
sent  forth  his  armies,  and 
destroyed  those  murderers, 
and  burned  up  their  city. 

8  Then  saith  he  to  his  ser- 
vants, The  wedding  is  ready, 
but  they  which  were  bidden 
were  not  worthy. 

9  Go  ye  therefore  into  the 

Made  light — Not  made  sport,  but 
counted  it  an  unimportant  thing, 
neglected  it,  were  easy  concerning 
it.  The  remnant — The  others.  As 
these  showed  positive  hostility,  they 
may  represent  the  more  virulent  of 
the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  and  the 
others  so  many  of  those  classes  as 
were  not  hostile,  but  only  indifferent 
and  unbelieving,  with  those  of  the 
people  also  who  were  in  a  similar 
state.  John  the  Baptist  was  not 
received,  Stephen  was  stoned,  Pe- 
ter was  imprisoned,  Paul  was  stoned 
and  beaten. 

7.  Wroth  —  Though  of  infinite 
tenderness,  Jesus  did  not  hesitate 
to  represent  God  as  showing  anger 
toward  the  wicked.  His  armies — 
The  soldiers  of  Rome  under  Titus, 
by  whom  their  city,  Jerusalem,  was 
destroyed  forty  years  afterward. 
That  the  Jewish  rulers  could  have 
done  so  wickedly  as  to  bring  destruc- 
tion to  their  city,  and  at  the  very 
same  time  have  done  so  well  as 
to  bring  everlasting  life  to  them- 
selves, is  not  very  probable.  The 
destruction,  therefore,  cannot  refer 
merely  to  the  city.  If  human  gov- 
ernments will  create  and  support 
armies,  God  will  use  them  to  pun- 
ish the  wicked.  He  sometimes  uses 
armies  to  punish  the  very  govern- 
ment that  created  thera. 


242 


MATTHEW. 


highways,  and  as  many  as  ye 
shall  find,  bid  to  the  marriage. 

10  So  those  servants  went 
out  into  the  highways,  and 
gathered  together  all  as  many 
as  they  found,  both  bad  and 
good :  and  the  wedding  was 
furnished  with  guests. 

11  ^[  And  when  the  king  came 
in  to  see  the  guests,  he  saw 
there  a  man  which  had  not  on 
a  wedding  garment : 

12  And  he  saith  unto  him, 


8, 9.  Not  worthy— Of  the  privilege 
offered.  Highways — Not  country 
roads,  but  thoroughfares  in  the  city. 
Both  bad  and  good — It  is  not  im- 
plied that  any  are  by  nature  not 
sinful.  It  is  merely  a  comprehen- 
sive phrase  including  all  sorts  of 
persons  in  the  great  Gentile  world, 
whether  vicious  or  virtuous.  The 
latter  need  the  blessings  of  the  gos- 
pel as  well  as  the  former.  The  very 
fact  that  the  "good"  are  invited 
proves  that  they  are  not  good  in  the 
sense  of  being  pious, — above  the 
necessity  of  regeneration.  The 
spirit  of  the  direction  is  like  that  of 
the  commission,  Go  ye  into  all  the 
world  and  preach  the  gospel  to 
every  creature. 

11,  12.  The  scene  changes,  and 
we  are  carried  forward  to  the  day 
of  judgment.  Not  having  a  wed- 
ding garment — To  show  the  crimi- 
nality of  the  man  in  appearing  with- 
out a  garment  suitable  for  the  occa- 
sion, the  attempt  has  been  made, 
but  not  with  entire  success,  to  prove 
that  it  was  customary  for  kings  to 
furnish  such  garments  to  invited 
guests.  It  is  by  no  means  certain 
that  the  custom  did  not  exist,  but 
even  if  it  did  not,  this  part  of  the 
parable  is  not  to  be  considered  as 
inconsistent.  The  man  would  not 
have  been  blamed  for  taking  as 
much  time  to  procure  a  garment  as 
was  necessary.     The  wedding  gar- 


Friend,  how  earnest  thou  in 
hither  not  having  a  wedding 
garment  ?  And  he  was  speech- 
less. 

13  Then  said  the  king  to  the 
servants,  Bind  him  hand  and 
foot,  and  take  him  away,  and 
cast  him  into  outer  darkness  ; 
there  shall  be  weeping  and 
gnashing  of  teeth. 

14  For  many  are  called,  but 
few  are  chosen. 

15  f  Then  went  the  Phari- 


ment  is  symbolical  of  the  imputed 
righteousness  of  Christ,  and  that 
personal  holiness  to  which  faith  in 
Christ's  righteousness  always  leads. 
Speechless,  notwithstanding  the  fact 
stated  in  vs.  14,  that/ew  are  chosen; 
that  is,  he  makes  no  attempt  to  jus- 
tify himself  on  that  ground. 

13,  14.  The  servants — A  different 
word  in  the  Greek,  and  therefore 
not  referring  to  those  who  had  given 
the  invitations.  These  servants  may 
symbolize  the  angels,  and  the  an- 
gels may  be  said  figuratively  to  act 
as  the  executioners  of  God's  will  in 
the  punishment  of  the  wicked.  See 
25  :  31.  Outer  darkness,  etc. — See 
note  on  8 :  11,  12.  Many  called, 
few  chosen — That  all  the  saved  will 
have  been  saved  in  consequence  of 
God's  purpose  to  save  them,  a  pur- 
pose which  God  must  have  always 
had,  and  therefore  properly  called 
eternal,  is  very  plainly  taught  in  the 
Scriptures.  This  is  undoubtedly  the 
basis  of  the  proverbial  saying  in  vs. 
14. 

15.  The  Pharisees,  greatly  exas- 
perated, doubtless,  by  these  three 
parables,  withdrew,  and  summoned 
all  their  skill  in  devising  plans  by 
which  to  bring  him  under  accusa- 
tion. Took  counsel— As  many  do, 
with  their  minds  thoroughly  com- 
mitted against  him.  Entangle  him 
in  his  talk — More  accurately,  en- 
snare him  with  a  word,  such  as  is 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


243 


sees,  and  took  counsel  how 
they  might  entangle  him  in 
his  talk. 

16  And  they  sent  out  unto 
him  their  disciples  with  the 
Herodians,  saying,  Master, 
we  know  that  thou  art  true, 
and  teachest  the  way  of  God 
in  truth,  neither  carest  thou 
for  any  man :  for  thou  regard- 
est  not  the  person  of  men. 

17  Tell  us  therefore,  What 
thinkest  thou  ?    Is  it  lawful  to 


reported  in  vv.  17  and  28.  Strauss, 
Theodore  Parker,  and  many  others, 
have  undertaken  a  similar  task. 
Mr.  Parker  dared  to  say  that  in 
some  things  Jesus  "was  fettered  by 
the  follies  of  his  age."  It  is  proba- 
ble that  there  will  be  men  enough 
for  some  time  to  come  who  will 
stultify  themselves  rather  than  ad- 
mit the  infinite  superiority  of  Jesus 
Christ  to  all  human  beings. 

16, 17.  The  Pharisees  keep  them- 
selves in  the  background.  They 
would  make  it  appear  that  they  have 
nothing  further  to  say  to  him.  But 
they  send  out  to  him  their  disciples, 
students,  and  therefore,  perhaps, 
young  men,  who,  possibly,  were 
unknown  to  him.  The  Herodians — 
Partisans  of  Herod.  They  were 
probably  a  political,  not  a  religious, 
party,  supporting  Herod  as  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  Roman  government, 
while  the  Pharisees  and  the  people 
generally  were  exceedingly  restive 
under  the  Roman  yoke.  One  man, 
Judas  the  Galilean  (Acts  5:  37), 
had  several  years  before  headed  a 
party  to  resist  the  payment  of  the 
tax  that  had  been  levied  on  the  Jews 
by  the  Emperor  Augustus.  It  was 
felt  by  many  that  as  God  was  their 
king,  it  was  wrong  to  pay  tribute  to 
a  foreign  power.  What  they  ought 
to  pay  should  be  paid  to  God.  The 
two  parties,  thus  differing  from  each 
other  relative  to  the  Roman  govern- 


give   tribute  unto    Cesar,    or 
not? 

18  But  Jesus  perceived  their 
wickedness,  and  said,  Why 
tempt  ye  me,  ye  hypocrites  ? 

19  Shew  me  the  tribute 
money.  And  they  brought 
unto  him  a  penny. 

20  And  he  saith  unto  them, 
Whose  is  this  image  and  su- 
perscription ? 

21  They  say  unto  him, 
Cesar's.     Then  saith  he  unto 


ment,  now  unite  in  an  effort  to  se- 
cure testimony  that  can  be  used 
against  Jesus.  Master — Teacher. 
We  know — The  form  of  a  truth,  but 
the  spirit  of  a  lie.  They  knew  it,  but 
rejected  the  evidence.  They  did  not 
believe  what  they  professed  to  know. 
The  way  of  God— The  life  which 
God  approves.  Lawful — Not,  wheth- 
er under  all  the  circumstances  it  is 
expedient,  but  whether  it  is  a  viola- 
tion of  God's  law  to  obey  in  this  re- 
spect the  law  of  Caesar.  Caesar  was 
the  general  name  of  the  Roman  em- 
perors, as  Augustus  Caesar,  Tiberius 
Caesar.  "  The  New  Testament  his- 
tory falls  entirely  within  the  reigns 
of  the  first  five  Roman  Caesars, 
namely,  Augustus,  Tiberius,  Calig- 
ula, Claudius,  and  Nero ;  only  the 
two  former  of  whom  and  Claudius 
are  mentioned  by  name."  Tribute 
— The  tribute  coin,  different  from 
the  tribute  in  17  :  24.  That  was  to 
be  paid  toward  the  support  of  the 
Jewish  temple. 

18-21.  Perceiving — Knowing,  but 
how,  whether  through  the  senses  or 
in  some  other  way,  cannot  be  af- 
firmed. Hypocrites — See  on  6  :  2, 
last  part  of  the  note.  He  unmasks 
them,  which  is  proof  of  the  truth  of 
their  own  words,  NeitKer  carest  thou 
for  any  man.  A  penny — A  denary. 
See  note  on  20 :  2,  3.  Specimens 
of  Roman  coin  are  still  in  existence, 
bearing  both  sm  image,  likeness  of 


244 


MATTHEW. 


them,  Render  therefore  unto 
Cesar  the  things  which  are 
Cesar's ;  and  unto  God  the 
things  that  are  God's. 

22  When  they  had  heard 
these  ivoi'ds,  they  marvelled, 
and  left  him,  and  went  their 
way. 

23  %  The  same  day  came  to 
him  the  Sadducees,  which  sa}^, 
that  there  is  no  resurrection, 
and  asked  him, 

24  Saying,  Master,  Moses 
said,  If  a  man  die,  having  no 
children,     his     brother     shall 

the  emperor,  and  a  superscription, 
his  name  or  initials.  Cesar — Tibe- 
rius Caesar.  The  answer  of  Jesus 
was  very  different  from  what  they 
expected.  He  wisely  discriminated 
between  allegiance  to  the  civil  power 
and  allegiance  to  God,  though  his 
reply  presents  no  opposition  to  the 
doctrine  that  the  powers  that  be  are 
ordained  of  God  ;  and  that  whoso- 
ever resisteth  the  power  resisteth 
the  ordinance  of  God.  Rom.  13  :  1, 
2.  Loyalty  to  government  is  im- 
plied in  loyalty  to  God ;  yet  there  is 
a  sense  in  which  the  i  lea  of  loyalty 
to  government  is  distinct  from  that 
of  loyalty  to  God.  Nor  does  his  re- 
ply overlook  the  duty  elsewhere 
taught  (Acts  4:  19),  of  resisting 
"the  powers  that  be,"  when  they 
require  us  to  do  a  sinful  act.  The 
reply  amounts  to  this :  You  your- 
selves admit  the  fact  of  the  existence 
of  the  Roman  jurisdiction  over  you ; 
for  you  use  the  currency  of  the  gov- 
ernment. Here,  in  the  very  image 
and  superscription  of  the  coin  which 
you  are  using,  is  evidence  of  Cae- 
sar's authority  over  the  land.  Pay 
back,  then,  to  Caesar  from  the  money 
which  you  accept  at  Ms  hands  the 
required  denary.  "Whatever,  also, 
God  requires  of  you,  render  to  God. 
Thus,  if  the  Pharisees  accused  Je- 
sus of  forbidding  to  pay  tribute  to 


marry  his  wife,  and   raise  up 
seed  unto  his  brother. 

25  Now  there  were  with  us 
seven  brethren  :  and  the  first, 
when  he  had  married  a  wife, 
deceased,  and,  having  no  is- 
sue, left  his  wife  unto  his 
brother : 

26  Likewise  the  second  also, 
and  the  third,  unto  the  sev- 
enth. 

27  And  last  of  all  the  woman 
died  also. 

28  Therefore  in  the  resurrec- 
tion, whose  wife  shall  she  be 


Caesar,  or  of  teaching  in  any  sense 
disloyalty  to  God,  they  accused  him 
falsely.  The  union  of  church  and 
state:  there  is  nothing  here  that 
sanctions  it.  The  right  of  revolu- 
tion against  an  irretrievably  op- 
pressive government :  there  is  noth- 
ing here  that  denies  it.  As  to  the 
right  of  Rome  to  rule  over  the  Jews, 
Jesus  says  nothing.  He  answers 
their  question  in  the  light  of  the  ad- 
mitted fact. 

23,  24.  The  Sadducees— See  note 
on  3 :  7,  third  paragraph.  Moses 
said— In  Deut.  25  :  5,  6.  This  law 
has  been  called  the  Levirate  law, 
from  the  Latin  word  Levir,  brother- 
in-law.  It  recognized  a  custom 
which  Moses  found  existing.  A 
similar  custom  existed  in  some  other 
countries.  In  the  case  of  the  Jews 
the  law  was  intended  to  prevent  the 
extinction  of  a  family.  The  first- 
born, after  the  second  marriage,  was 
considered  as  the  first  husband's 
son,  inheriting  his  property,  and,  as 
some  affirm,  though  this  is  not  cer- 
tain, taking  his  name. 

25-28.  Seven  brethren — This  may 
have  been  an  imaginary  case,  though 
Dr.  Whedon  suggests  that  it  had  a 
foundation  in  the  apocryphal  book 
of  Tobit,  3:8.  The  words  to  which 
he  refers,  and  those  in  the  preced- 
ing verse,  taken  from  the  Roman 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


245 


of  the  seven  ?  for  they  all  had 
her. 

29  Jesus  answered  and  said 
unto  them,  Ye  do  err,  not 
knowing  the  Scriptures,  nor 
the  power  of  God. 

30  For  in  the  resurrection 
they   neither   marry,    nor   are 


Catholic  version,  are  as  follows : 
Now  it  happened  on  the  same  day, 
that  Sara,  daughter  of  Raguel,  in 
Rages,  a  city  of  the  Modes,  received 
a  reproach  from  one  of  her  father's 
servant-maids,  because  she  had  been 
given  to  seven  husbands.  It  is  the 
aim  of  the  Sadducees,  who  disbe- 
lieved the  doctrine  of  the  soul's  im- 
mortality and  the  resurrection  of  the 
body,  to  ridicule  both  Jesus  and  the 
doctrine.  Their  case  of  seven  broth- 
ers marrying  one  wife  must  have 
excited  merriment  in  the  bystanders, 
and  possibly  evoked  a  peal  of  laugh- 
ter. If  the  question  seems  to  us  very 
easy  to  be  answered,  we  should  re- 
member that  then  some  of  the  most 
religious  men  (religious  by  profes- 
sion) held  such  views  relative  to  the 
nature  of  the  future  life,  as  to  make 
the  question  in  the  judgment  of  the 
Sadducees  extremely  difficult  to  be 
answered  in  consistency  with  the 
doctrine  of  a  future  life.  The  Rab- 
binical doctrine  was  that  if  a  wom- 
an had  been  married  twice,  she 
would  revert  to  the  first  husband  in 
the  next  world.  Whose  wife — What 
they  think  is  this  :  It  is  impossible 
to  tell  whether  she  would  be  the 
first  man's,  or  the  iast  man's.  As 
they  all  had  her,  either  all  must 
have  her  there,  or  only  one.  The 
former  cannot  be,  and  if  only  one 
has  her,  the  other  six  will  have  been 
dealt  hardly  by.  They  think  the 
perplexity  may  be  avoided  by  their 
doctrine  that  there  is  no  future  life 
for  either  party. 

29, 30.   The  Scriptures — Jesus  as- 
sumes, as  he  had  often  assumed  be- 
fore, that  the  Old  Testament  is  the 
authoritative   word    of    God.      He 
21* 


given  in  marriage,  but  are  as 
the  angels  of  God  in  heaven. 

31  But  as  touching  the  resur- 
rection of  the  dead,  have  ye 
not  read  that  which  was  spok- 
en unto  you  by  God,  saying, 

32  I  am  the  God  of  Abraham, 
and  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the 


cV  irges  them  with  not  knowing,  not 
understanding  its  spiritual  meaning, 
and  so  failing  (the  Sadducees,  not 
the  Pharisees)  to  see  that  it  teaches 
among  other  things  the  doctrine  of 
a  future  life.  He  also  charges  them 
with  ignorance  of  the  truth  that  God 
is  a  being  of  sufficient  po wer  to  raise 
the  dead.  This  implies  the  weak- 
ness of  all  philosophical  objections 
to  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection. 
As  the  angels  of  God — As  the  angels 
in  respect  to  what  is  now  under  con- 
sideration. He  does  not  mean  to 
say  that  they  are  like  the  angels  in 
other  respects.  As  no  such  distinc- 
tion exists  among  the  angels  as  that 
which  is  implied  in  the  marriage  re- 
lation on  the  earth,  so  no  such  dis- 
tinction will  exist  among  the  saints 
in  heaven.  Jesus  states  this  on  the 
basis  of  his  personal  knowledge,  not 
quoting  from  the  Scriptures  to  prove 
it. 

32.  I  am  the  God  of  Abraham, 
etc. — Jesus  quotes  from  Ex.  3  :  6. 
The  words  were  spoken  to  Moses 
out  of  the  burning  bush.  They  are 
quoted  by  the  Saviour  as  proof  that 
men  will  live  after  death.  The  rea- 
soning is  this  :  God  said  to  Moses,  I 
am  the  God  of  Abraham,  and  the 
God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob. 
But  God  is  not  the  God  of  one  who 
has  no  existence.  Therefore,  Abra- 
ham, and  Isaac,  and  Jacob  are  still 
alive.  Admitting  that  this  proves 
the  existence  of  men  after  death  as 
spirits,  how  does  it  prove  the  resur- 
rection of  their  bodies  ?  Reply : 
The  Scriptures  regard  the  separate 
existence  of  the  soul  as  an  unnatu- 
ral condition ;  and  therefore  regard 
the  renewed  life  of  the  body  as  im- 


246 


MATTHEW. 


God  of  Jacob?  God  is  not  the 
God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the 
living. 

33  And  when  the  multitude 
heard  this,  the}^  were  aston- 
ished at  his  doctrine. 

34  %  But  when  the  Pharisees 
had  heard  that  he  had  put  the 


plied  in  the  continued  life  of  the 
soul.  It  may  be  objected  that  the 
words,  I  am  the  God  of  Abraham, 
mean  only  this  :  I  am  the  God  who 
was  the  God  of  Abraham  during 
Abraham 's  life,  and  that  therefore 
they  are  not  proof  that  Abraham 
was  alive  when  they  were  uttered  by 
Christ,  or  even  when  spoken  by  Je- 
hovah to  Moses,  and  that  therefore 
they  are  not  proof  of  the  soul's  im- 
mortality. The  objection  is  of  no 
weight ;  for,  1.  Jesus  knew  much  bet- 
ter than  the  objector  the  true  mean- 
ing of  the  words,  and  he  teaches 
that  the  meaning  is,  or,  at  least,  that 
a  valid  inference  from  the  meaning 
is,  that  Abraham  was  still  alive; 
2.  The  words  seem  to  have  refer- 
ence to  covenant  relations.  God 
encourages  Moses  by  saying,  that 
he  holds  covenant  relations  with 
Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob.  But 
this  was  impossible  if  Abraham, 
Isaac,  and  Jacob  were  dead. 

Many  commentators  teach  that 
the  reference  is  only  to  the  right- 
eous. It  is  certain,  as  we  learn  from 
other  parts  of  the  Bible,  that  the 
wicked  are  to  be  raised  as  well  as 
the  righteous.  Even  if  it  could  be 
shown  that  both  here  and  in  Luke 
the  reference  is  only  to  the  resur- 
rection of  the  good,  it  would  not 
follow  that  the  wicked  are  annihi- 
lated. The  resurrection  of  all  man- 
hind,  without  respect  to  character, 
was  a  doctrine  firmly  held  by  the 
Jews  of  our  Lord's  time,  the  small 
sect  of  the  Sadducees  excepted.  The 
annihilation  of  the  wicked  was  not 
the  distinguishing  doctrine  of  the 
Sadducees,  but  the  annihilation  of 
both  the  wicked  and  the  righteous. 


Sadducees  to  silence,  they  were 
gathered  together. 

35  Then  one  of  them,  which 
was  a  law3'er,  asked  him  a 
question,  tempting  him,  and 
saying, 

36  Master,  which  is  the  great 
commandment  in  the  law? 

33.  Astonished  at  his  doctrine — 
Not,  of  a  future  life,  but  of  the  na- 
ture of  it;  for  even  the  people, 
though  believing  in  the  soul's  im- 
mortality, had  gross  conceptions  of 
its  nature. 

34,  35.  The  bluntness  of  the  tools 
which  the  Pharisees  had  used  leads 
them  to  try  again.  A  lawyer — This 
may  be  synonymous  with  scribe,  but 
it  has  been  suggested  as  ' '  more  prob- 
able that  the  title  scribe  was  a  legal 
and  official  designation,  but  that  the 
name  lawyer  was  properly  a  mere 
epithet,  signifying  one  '  learned  in 
the  law,'  and  only  used  as  a  title  in 
common  parlance."  This  man  seems 
to  have  been  put  forward  by  the 
Pharisees,  who  stand  where  they  can 
listen  to  the  conversation.  Their 
design  was  only  bad;  his  was  not 
wholly  bad.  He  consented  to  be 
used  as  their  tool,  yet  was  of  a  bet- 
ter spirit.  See  Mark  12  :  28,  32,  34. 
Tempting — Not  here  in  a  very  bad 
sense,  but  rather  in  the  sense  of 
putting  his  knowledge  to  the  test. 

36.  The  great  commandment — 
"The  Jewish  Talmud  reckons  the 
positive  laws  of  Moses  at  two  hundred 
and  forty-eight,  and  the  negative  at 
three  hundred  and  sixty-five,  the 
sum  being  six  hundred  and  thirteen. 
To  keep  so  many  laws,  said  the 
Jews,  is  an  angel's  work,  and  so 
they  had  much  question  which  was 
the  great  commandment,  so  that  they 
might  keep  that  in  lieu  of  keeping 
the  ichole." — Dr.  Whedon.  True 
piety  does  not  care  to  ask,  which, 
or,  as  some  would  render  it,  what 
kind  of,  commandment  is  great? 
No  command  can  be  otherwise  than 
great  that   came  from  the  infinite 


CHAPTER  XXH. 


247 


37  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Thou 
shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God 
with  all  thy  heart,  and  with 
all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy 
mind. 

38  This  is  the  first  and  great 
commandment. 

39  And  the  second  is  like  un- 
to it,  Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbour  as  thyself. 


God.  Thinking  any  commandment 
of  God  unimportant  is  a  bad  sign. 

37-39.  Heart  .  .  .  soul .  .  .  mind 
— It  is  not  probable  that  these  words 
are  used  with  any  nice  philosophical 
distinction.  It  is  sufficient  to  say 
that  they  express  the  duty  of  loving 
God  with  all  our  power  of  love. 
This  implies  the  choice  of  God,  by 
the  will,  as  a  continuous  act  in  pref- 
erence to  all  created  beings.  It 
also  implies  the  illumination  of  the 
intellect,  and  the  consecration  of  it 
to  the  Creator.  It  is  observable, 
however,  that  the  command  pertains 
directly  to  the  affections,  and  only 
indirectly  to  the  intellect  or  to  the 
will.  It  is  not,  Choose,  though  that 
must  be  done ;  it  is  not,  Reason, 
though  reasoning  is  a  duty;  but 
Love.  First  and  great  command- 
ment— Not  that  any  commandment 
is  otherwise  than  great  viewed  in 
respect  to  comprehensiveness.  The 
command  to  love  God  with  all  our 
powers  is  the  most  comprehensive 
of  all.  Love  is  the  fulfilling,  the 
filling  up,  the  completion,  of  the 
law.  Tliesecond  is  like  unto  it — Like 
it  in  nature.  As  thyself — Self-love, 
then,  is  not  wrong:  it  is  a  duty. 
Self-love  may  become  selfishness. 
He  who  loves  himself  as  the  work 
of  God  will  love  his  neighbor,  since 
his  neighbor,  too,  is  the  work  of 
God. 

40.  The  meaning  of  this  verse  is 
well  expressed  by  Dr.  Conant :  llIn 
these  (is  the  idea)  lies  the  energy 
that  sustains  all ;  and  hence  on  them 
all  are  suspended."     Loving  one's 


40  On  these  two  command- 
ments hang  all  the  law  and 
the  prophets. 

41  %  While  the  Pharisees 
were  gathered  together,  Jesus 
asked  them, 

42  Saying,  What  think  ye 
of  Christ?  Whose  son  is  he? 
They  say  unto  him,  The  son  of 
David. 


neighbor  in  the  sense  in  which  the 
words   are   often  used,  is   possible 
without  loving  God.     Loving  God 
without  loving  one's  neighbor  is  im 
possible. 

41,  42.  They  are  still  in  the  court 
of  the  temple.  Pharisees,  Saddu- 
cees,  and  Herodians  have  all  been 
bafiied.  Jesus  can  put  questions 
which  they  cannot  answer,  as  well 
as  answer  questions  which  they  can 
put ;  but  how  different  the  spirit  in 
which  he  puts  them !  He  calls  their 
attention  to  an  apparent  difficulty 
arising  from  the  words  of  David 
in  Psalm  110:  1.  What  think  ye 
of  Christ  ? — What  think  ye  concern- 
ing the  Messiah?  is  the  more  cor- 
rect rendering.  In  consequence  of 
the  omission  of  the  article  before 
Christ,  and  of  the  present  universal 
application  of  the  term  Christ  to 
Jesus  as  a  name,  there  is  danger  of 
failing  to  see  the  point.  He  is  not 
asking  what  they  think  of  himself, 
Jesus,  but  what  they  think  of  the 
Messiah  whom  they  admit  to  be  the 
subject  of  the  Psalm.  Whether  he 
himself  is  the  Messiah  is  an  impor- 
tant question,  but  it  is  now  only  in- 
directly involved  in  the  question  he 
asks.  He  catechises  them,  not  to 
ensnare  them,  but  to  convict  them, 
before  the  bystanders  and  before  all 
coming  ages,  of  ignorance  of  spir- 
itual things,  and  thus  to  aid  in  con- 
firming the  conviction  of  the  apos- 
tles and  ourselves  that  he  is  the 
Messiah.  The  son  of  David — So 
far  all  was  plain.  No  Jew  would 
have  given  any  other  answer. 


248 


MATTHEW. 


43  He  saith  unto  them,  How 
then  doth  David  in  spirit  call 
him  Lord,  saying, 

44  The  Lord  said  unto  my 
Lord,  Sit  thou  on  my  right 
hand,  till  I  make  thine  ene- 
mies thy  footstool? 

45  If  David  then  call  him 
Lord,  how  is  he  his  son? 

46  And  no  man  was  able  to 


43-45.  David  in  spirit — Not  his 
own  spirit,  but  the  Spirit,  the  Holy 
Spirit.  David,  though  a  king,  and 
the  most  distinguished  king  in  the 
world,  calls  his  son  his  Lord.  What, 
then,  becomes  of  your  opinion  that 
the  Messiah  is  his  son?  How — 
In  what  sense?  See  Eom.  1 :  3,  4. 
Those  who  say  that  the  Psalms  were 
written  by  the  same  kind  of  inspira- 
tion as  Homer's  "Iliad,'*  or  Milton's 
"Paradise  Lost,"  contradict  Jesus 
Christ. 

46.  Why  were  they  unable  to  an- 
swer ?  Because  they  had  no  clear 
conception  of  the  Messiah's  divine 
nature.  They  saw  that  the  Messiah 
was  to  be  a  descendant  of  David, 
but  they  did  not  see  that  he  was  to 
be  of  a  nature  higher  than  David's. 
Thus  closed  the  oral  conflict  be- 
tween Jesus  and  his  enemies.  But 
the  conspiracy  was  not  subdued. 
Jesus  did  not  aim  to  subdue  it.  By 
the  determinate  counsel  and  fore- 
knowledge of  God  it  was  allowed  to 
gather  strength.  Jesus,  on  the  oth- 
er hand,  became  more  direct  and 
withering  in  his  exposure  of  the  hy- 
pocrisy of  the  ruling  powers.  Logic 
may  shut  an  opposer's  lips,  but  only 
the  Holy  Spirit  can  open  his  heart. 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

JESUS  DENOUNCES  THE  SCRIBES  AND 
PHARISEES. 

783  U.C.    Tuesday,  April  4, 
A.».  30. 

1,  2.  He  who  uttered  this  sever- 
est of  all  discourses  was  the  meek- 


answer  him  a  word,  neither 
durst  any  man  from  that  day 
forth  ask  him  any  more  ques- 
tions. 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THEN   spake   Jesus   to  the 
multitude,  and  to  his  dis- 
ciples, 


est  and  lowliest  of  men.  To  the  mul 
titude,  and  to  his  disciples, — bu 
in  the  hearing  of  the  scribes  and 
Pharisees.  They  are  not  reported 
as  interrupting  him  :  they  dared  not ; 
but  the  denunciations  must  have  ex- 
asperated them  in  the  highest  de- 
gree. Sit  in  Moses'  seat — Have  sat 
down,  or,  sat  down;  strictly,  have 
seated  themselves,  as  interpreters 
of  Moses'  law.  It  does  not  neces- 
sarily express  blame,  as  if  they  had 
usurped  the  position,  though  many 
so  understand  it.  This  is  evident 
from  the  therefore'm  the  next  verse. 
If  Christ  meant  to  say  that  they 
were  holding  their  office  wrong- 
fully, how  could  he  say,  Therefore 
observe  what  they  bid?  It  may  be 
added  that  Dr.  Nast  thinks  the  ref- 
erence is  to  the  highest  court, — the 
Sanhedrim.  He  says:  "Divinely 
authorized  teachers  of  religion 
ivere,  after  Moses,  only  the  proph- 
ets, not  the.priests  and  scribes.  All 
that  Christ  enjoins  in  this  passage, 
therefore,  is  obedience  to  their  ju- 
dicial decisions." 

3.  Not  after  their  works — Jesu9 
makes  a  broad  distinction  between 
the  teaching  and  the  life  of  the 
scribes  and  Pharisees.  The  dis- 
course itself  shows  that  a  distinc- 
tion Avas  also  to  be  made  in  their 
teachings.  It  shows  us  how  we  are 
to  understand  the  all  of  this  verse ; 
all  that  Moses  taught ;  not,  however, 
to  the  exclusion  of  whatever  expla« 
nations  the  scribes  might  be  able  to 
make  in  harmony  with  Moses.  This 
direction,  even  with  the  limitations 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 


249 


2  Saying,  The  scribes  and 
the  Pharisees  sit  in  Moses' 
seat: 

3  All  therefore  whatsoever 
they  bid  you  observe,  that  ob- 
serve and  do;  but  do  not  ye 
after  their  works :  for  they 
say,  and  do  not. 


which  must  he  given  it,  is  a  remark- 
able illustration  of  true  liberality. 
Jesus  utters  not  a  word  adapted  to 
excite  the  people  to  eject  the  scribes 
from  their  office.  Not  preaching 
the  truth  in  the  life,  while  preach- 
ing it  in  words,  exposes  to  the  se- 
verest condemnation.  These  words 
of  Jesus,  though  illustrating  his  lib- 
erality, are  greatly  perverted  by 
those  who  affirm  that  men  should 
be  sustained  in  promulgating  truth 
even  if  their  lives  are  godless.  This 
scandalous  doctrine  has  done  vast 
evil  in  the  world. 

4.  Heavy  burdens — Alford  says, 
''Not,  as  so  often  misinterpreted, 
traditions  and  observances,  but  the 
severity  of  the  law."  Yet  he  pro- 
ceeds to  say:  "The  irksomeness 
and  unbearableness  of  these  rites 
did  not  belong  to  the  law  in  itself, 
as  rightly  explained,  but  were  cre- 
ated by  the  rigor  and  ritualism  of 
these  men,  who  followed  the  letter 
and  lost  the  spirit."  Precisely  so. 
It  was  not  the  law,  then,  to  which 
Jesus  referred,  so  much  as  the  ad- 
ditions to  the  law  which  had  been 
made  by  the  scribes  and  Pharisees 
through  their  unreasonable  inter- 
pretations. Yet  the  divinely  author- 
ized ceremonies  of  the  law  itself 
may  be  included,  so  far  as  the  Jews 
used  them  for  the  purpose  of  self- 
justification.  Hence  Peter  says 
(Acts  15  :  10),  Now,  therefore,  why 
tempt  ye  God,  to  put  a  yoke  upon 
the  neck  of  the  disciples,  which  nei- 
ther our  fathers  nor  we  were  able  to 
bear?  "By  this  yoke,"  says  Nean- 
der,  in  Hackett  on  the  Acts,  ".  .  .  he 
certainly  did  not  mean  the  external 


4  For  they  bind  heavy  bur- 
dens and  grievous  to  be  borne, 
and  lay  them  on  men's  shoul- 
ders ;  but  they  themselves  will 
not  move  them  with  one  of 
their  fingers. 

5  But  all  their  works  they  do 
for  to   be  seen  of  men :  they 


observance  of  ceremonies  as  such, 
since  he  would  by  no  means  per- 
suade the  Jewish  Christians  to  re- 
nounce them.  But  he  meant  the 
external  observance  of  the  law,  in 
so  far  as  this  proceeded  from  an  in- 
ternal subjection  of  the  conscience 
to  its  power,  such  as  exists  when 
justification  and  salvation  are  made 
to  depend  on  the  performances  of 
legal  requirements."  As  to  false  in- 
terpretations of  the  law,  see  the  Ser- 
mon on  the  Mount.  Not  .  .  .  with 
one  of  their  fingers — There  are  many 
parallels  with  this  in  the  Romish 
Church.  He  who  requires  people  to 
refrain  from  eating  meat  on  Friday 
ought  not  to  be  caught  eating  meat 
himself. 

5.  To  be  seen — See  6:1.  Phylac- 
teries— "  Strips  of  parchment,  on 
which  were  written  four  passages 
of  Scripture  (Ex.  13:  2-10,  11-17; 
Deut.  6  :  4-9,  13-22)  in  an  ink  pre- 
pared for  the  purpose.  They  were 
then  rolled  up  in  a  case  of  black 
calf-skin,  which  was  attached  to  a 
stiflfer  piece  of  leather,  having  a 
thong  one  finger  broad  and  one  and 
a  half  cubits  long.  '  They  were 
placed  at  the  bend  of  the  left  arm, 
and  after  the  thong  had  made  a  lit- 
tle knot  in  the  shape  of  the  letter 
"""  [Yodh,  the  tenth  letter  in  the 
Hebrew  alphabet]  "  'it  was  wound 
round  the  arm  in '  a  spiral  line, 
which  ended  at  the  top  of  the  mid- 
dle finger.'"  .  .  .  They  were  also 
worn  on  the  forehead.  They  are 
called  phylacteries,  "  either  because 
they  tended  to  promote  the  observ- 
ance of  the  law,  ...  or  from  the  use 
of  them   as   amulets ; "  that  is,  aa 


250 


MATTHEW. 


make  broad  their  phylacte- 
ries, and  enlarge  the  borders 
of  their  garments, 


charms  against  evils.  "The  ex- 
pression, '  they  make  broad  their 
phylacteries,'  refers  not  so  much  to 
the  phylactery  itself,  which  seems 
to  have  been  of  a  prescribed  breadth, 
as  to  the  case  in  which  the  parch- 
ment was  kept,  which  the  Phari- 
sees (among  their  other  pretentious 
customs)  made  as  conspicuous  as 
they  could.  .  .  .  It  is  said  that  the 
Pharisees  wore  them  always,  where- 
as the  common  people  only  used 
them  at  prayers.  .  .  .  The  modern 
Jews  only  wear  them  at  morning 
prayers,  and  sometimes  at  noon." 


6  And  love  the  uppermost 
rooms  at  feasts,  and  the  chief 
seats  in  the  synagogues, 


Frontlets. 


Was  the  practice  of  wearing  phy- 
lacteries required  by  the  words  in 
Ex.  13 :  9,  etc.  ?  or  are  the  words 
to  be  understood  figuratively ;  that 
is,  as  intended  to  teach  them  the 
duty  of  keeping  the  commands  of 
God  continually  in  mind  ?  Which 
view  is  correct  is  uncertain.  Con- 
siderations o$  weight  have  been 
urged  in  favor  of  each.  We  incline 
to  the  former  as  more  in  accordance 
with  the  general  character  of  the 
Mosaic  system,  and  regard  our  Lord 
as  inveighing  against  the  abuse  of 
the  command.  We  are  told  that  one 
Jewish  writer,  in  commenting  on  Ps. 


1 :  2,  starting  the  objection  that  it  is 
impossible  to  meditate  in  God's  law 
day  and  night,  because  of  sjeep,  do- 
mestic cares,  etc.,  answers  that  for 
the  fulfilment  of  the  text  it  is  suffi- 
cient to  wear  Tephillin  [Phylac- 
teries]. 

The  borders  of  their  garments — 
Fringes.  These  were  required 
(Num.  15  :  38-40),  and  our  Saviour 
himself  wore  one.  9 :  20.  They 
were  intended  to  aid  them  in  remem- 
bering the  commandments  of  God, 
but,  like  the  phylacteries,  came  to 
be  worn  in  spiritual  pride.  He  who 
wished  to  be  considered  as  specially 
religious  enlarged  the  fringe. 
Endeavoring  by  outward 
signs  to  make  men  believe 
that  one  has  more  piety  than 
others  proves  that  one  has 
less. 

6.  Uppermost  rooms — Not 
rooms  as  the  word  is  now  un- 
derstood, that  is,  apartments 
of  a  dwelling-house,  but  the 
first  place  at  table.  See  note 
on  9  :  10,  11.  The  chief  seats 
in  the  synagogues  were  those 
near  the  upper  end;  that 
is,  the  end  which  stood 
nearest  Jerusalem,  and  in  which 
was  the  chest  containing  a  copy  of 
the  law.  It  was  the  place  of  honor. 
James  2 :  2,  3.  Jesus  spoke  not 
against  such  internal  arrangements 
in  themselves  considered,  but  against 
choosing  them  for  the  sake  of  get- 
ting honor  from  men.  Such  places 
might  have  been  avoided  in  pride,  as 
well  as  sought.  Madame  Guyon,  an 
eminent  Christian  woman  of  France, 
member  of  the  Papal  Church,  re- 
fused the  means  which  a  friend  of- 
fered her  for  reducing  the  scars 
which  the  small-pox  made  in  her 
face,  and,  after  recovering,  con- 
ceived it  to  be  her  duty  to  walk  in 
one  of  the  most  fashionable  streets 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


251 


7  And  greetings  in  the  mar- 
kets, and  to  be  called  of  men, 
Rabbi,  Rabbi. 

8  But  be  not  ye  called 
Rabbi :  for  one  is  your  Mas- 
ter, even  Christ ;  and  all  ye  are 
brethren. 

9  And  call  no  man  your 
father  upon  the  earth ;  for 
one  is  your  Father,  which  is 
in  heaven. 

of  Paris,  to  humble  herself.  She 
had  been  considered  as  uncommonly 
beautiful. 

7, 8.  Rabbi  is  interpreted  by  John 
himself  (1 :  38)  to  mean  master,  or, 
more  properly  translated,  teacher. 
But  how  could  a  title  which  means 
teacher,  a  title  which  Jesus  never 
refused,  be  condemned  when  per- 
mitted by  the  scribes  to  be  applied 
to  themselves  ?  We  do  not  under- 
stand Jesus  to  condemn  the  use  of 
the  word,  but  the  vanity  and  osten- 
tation which  led  them  to  love  it. 
Rab,  Rabbi,  and  Rabboni  indicated 
degrees  of  honor,  the  last  being  the 
most  distinguished.  The  titles  were 
not  of  divine  authority.  "The  title 
Rabbi  is  not  known  to  have  been 
used  before  the  reign  of  Herod  the 
Great,  and  is  thought  to  have  taken 
its  rise  about  the  time  of  the  dis- 
putes between  the  rival  schools  of 
Hillel  and  Shammai.  Before  that 
period  the  prophets  and  the  men  of 
the  great  synagogue  were  simply 
called  by  their  proper  names,  and 
the  first  who  had  a  title  is  said  to 
be  Simeon  the  son  of  Hillel,  .  .  . 
and  from  his  time  such  titles  came 
to  be  in  fashion.  ...  It  was  said  in 
the  Jewish  books  that  greater  was 
he  who  was  called  by  his  own  name 
than  even  he  who  was  called  Rab- 
ban"  [Rabboni].  Master — Accord- 
ing to  the  true  reading  of  the  Greek 
this  should  be  teacher.  Brethren  — 
Equal  in  rank,  not  in  abilities. 
What,  then,  becomes  of  the  doc- 
trine of  Peter's   primacy?      What 


10  Neither  be  }re  called  mas- 
ters :  for  one  is  your  Master, 
even  Christ. 

11  But  he  that  is  greatest 
among  you  shall  be  your  ser- 
vant. 

12  And  whosoever  shall  ex- 
alt himself  shall  be  abased ; 
and  he  that  shall  humble  him- 
self shall  be  exalted. 

13  ^   But    woe    unto    you 


becomes  of  that  system  of  church 
government  which  makes  the  dis- 
tinction in  the  ministry  indicated 
in  the  words  bishop  and  archbishop  ? 
Some  excellent  men,  as  Albert 
Bai-nes  in  his  "Notes  on  the  Gos- 
pels," consider  the  modern  title  of 
Doctor  of  Divinity  as  condemned  by 
the  spirit  of  these  words.  It  is  certain 
that  the  minister  who  schemes  for 
the  purpose  of  obtaining  it  gives 
humiliating  proof  of  having,  in  that 
respect,  the  spirit  of  the  men  who 
loved  to  be  called  Rabbi. 

9,  10.  Call  no  man  your  father 
— Since  children  may  call  him  that 
begat  them  father,  since  Paul  calls 
himself  the  father  of  the  Corinthian 
Christians  (1  Cor.  4:  14,  15),  since 
Peter  represents  himself  as  the 
father  of  Mark  (1  Peter  5  :  13),  the 
meaning  must  be,  Acknowledge  no 
man  as  having  spiritual  authority 
over  you.  Aged  ministers  are 
called  father,  without  violation  of 
our  Saviour's  precept.  It  is  simply 
an  expression  of  affectionate  re- 
spect. The  pope  of  Rome  assumes 
to  be  the  papa,  the  father,  of  the 
whole  Christian  world  in  the  sense 
of  having  divinely  authorized  su- 
premacy, which  is  a  stupendous  im- 
position. Masters — Leaders.  The 
original  word  is  different  from  that 
in  vs.  8.  Christ  is  the  only  leader. 
Sadly  have  these  precepts  been  vio- 
lated by  bodies  of  men  each  assum- 
ing to  call  itself  The  Church. 

13.  Woe— This  is  the  first  of  eight 
woes    denounced  against  the   men 


252 


MATTHEW. 


scribes  and  Phnrisees,  hypo- 
crites !  for  ye  shut  up  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  against  men  :  for 
ye  neither  go  in  yourselves, 
neither  suffer  ye  them  that  are 
entering  to  go  in. 

14  Woe  unto  you,  scribes  and 
Pharisees,  hypocrites  !  for  ye 


who  thought  they  had  a  hotter  title 
to  membership  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  than  Christ  himself.  These 
woes  are  terribly  severe,  but  they 
were  richly  deserved.  For  gives 
the  reason  why  the  woe  is  de- 
nounced. Shut  up — This  they  did 
by  giving  false  interpretations  of 
the  law,  and  then  attaching  more 
importance  to  them  than  to  the  law 
itself.  Thus  they  kept  themselves 
out  of  the  Messiah's  kingdom,  and 
others  also,  as,  for  example,  the 
people,  who  often  showed  indica- 
tions of  desire  to  enter. 

14.  This  verse  is  genuine  in  Mark 
12  :  40  and  in  Luke  20 :  47,  but'  it  is 
not  found  in  the  oldest  manuscripts 
and  versions  of  Matthew. 

15.  Proselytes  were  converts  from 
heathenism  to  Judaism.  Some  of 
them,  dissatisfied  with  the  errors 
and  immorality  of  paganism,  were 
sincere  worshippers  of  Jehovah. 
Many  of  them  gave  no  evidence  of 
piety,  or  even  of  common  sincerity, 
in  the  adoption  of  the  Jewish  relig- 
ion. Some  of  the  heathen  became 
proselytes  by  compulsion.  Jose- 
phus  informs  us  that  after  John 
Hyrcanus  had  subdued  the  Idume- 
ans,  he  permitted  them  to  "stay  in 
their  country,  if  they  would  adopt 
the  rite  of  circumcision,  and  make 
use  of  the  laws  of  the  Jews."  Cir- 
cumcision or  exile  was  the  alterna- 
tive. At  one  time,  the  Jews  "com- 
pelled a  Roman  centurion,  whom 
they  had  taken  prisoner,  to  purchase 
his  life  by  accepting  the  sign  of  the 
covenant," —  circumcision.  Such 
methods,  however,  of  making  pros- 
elytes, were   probably   as   rare   as 


devour  widows'  houses,  and 
for  a  pretence  make  long  pray- 
er :  therefore  ye  shall  receive 
the  greater  damnation. 

15  Woe  unto  3^011  scribes  and 
Pharisees,  hypocrites  !  for  ye 
compass  sea  and  land  to  make 
one   proselyte ;    and   when  he 


they  were  extreme.  Fraud  was 
often  used.  Many  of  the  proselytes 
became  such  voluntarily.  In  the 
reign  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella, 
Cardinal  Ximenes  undertook  to 
make  Christians  of  the  Moors  by 
compulsion.  Proselytes  of  the  gate 
were  not  required  to  be  circumcised, 
or  to  observe  the  Mosaic  ritual  in 
general,  but  they  were  under  obli- 
gation to  renounce  idolatry.  Pros- 
elytes of  righteousness  adopted  the 
Jewish  religion  as  such.  They  were 
circumcised,  "special  prayer"  be- 
ing offered  on  the  occasion,  and 
were  baptized,  that  is,  immersed. 
The  baptism  was  held  to  be  as  im- 
portant as  the  circumcision.  The 
distinction  between  these  two  class- 
es of  proselytes  has  been  often 
erroneously  used  (Barnes  and  even 
Dr.  Nast)  to  illustrate  the  passage 
before  us,  as  if  the  distinction  ex- 
isted in  our  Lord's  time.  The  germ 
of  the  distinction  may  perhaps  be 
seen,  but  nothing  more. 

Compass  sea  and  land — Show  the 
most  fanatical  zeal,  or,  as  we  some- 
times say,  leave  no  stone  unturned. 
There  is  no  decisive  proof  that  the 
Pharisees  made  missionary  tours 
for  the  purpose  of  converting 
heathen  to  Judaism,  but  a  Jewish 
merchant  who  was  travelling  in  a 
foreign  land  on  business  might  at- 
tempt it.  Hell — The  place  of  future 
punishment.  See  on  5  :  22 ;  25  : 
4G.  Child  of  hell — Depraved,  and 
therefore  worthy  of  the  punishment 
of  hell.  Tivofold  more — How  was 
this  possible,  since  the  Pharisees 
themselves  were  such  children  of 
hell   as   to   deserve   these    terrible 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 


253 


is  made,  ye  make  him  twofold 
more  the  child  of  hell  than 
yourselves. 

16  Woe  unto  you,  ye  blind 
guides,  which  say,  Whosoever 
shall  swear  by  the  temple,  it 
is  nothing ;  but  whosoever 
shall  swear  by  the  gold  of  the 
temple,  he  is  a  debtor ! 

17  Ye  fools  and  blind :  for 
whether  is  greater,  the  gold, 
or  the  temple  that  sanctifieth 
the  gold? 

18  And,  Whosoever  shall 
swear  by  the  altar,  it  is  noth- 
ing ;  but  whosoever  sweareth 
by  the  gift  that  is  upon  it,  he 
is  guilty. 

19  Ye  fools  and  blind :  for 
whether  is  greater,  the  gift,  or 

woes  ?  Proselytes  of  course  became 
no  better  than  their  teachers,  and 
besides  this  they  brought  along  with 
them  the  vices  peculiar  to  heathen- 
ism. "  At  Rome  and  in  other  large 
cities,  they  became  the  butts  of  pop- 
ular scurrility.  .  .  .  An  opprobri- 
ous proverb  coupled  them  with  the 
vilest  profligates.  ...  It  became  a 
recognized  maxim,  that  no  wise 
man  would  trust  a  proselyte  even 
to  the  twenty-fourth  generation." 

16-22.  Jesus  here  denounces  them 
for  their  lax  morality  relative  to 
oaths.  See  notes  on  the  same  sub- 
ject, 5  :  33-37.  They  taught,  — 
this  was  a  part  of  their  theology,  — 
that  he  who  should  swear  by  the 
temple,  or  by  the  altar,  or  by 
heaven,  might  consider  himself  as 
under  no  obligation  to  keep  the 
oath ;  but  if  he  should  swear  by  the 
gold  of  the  temple,  that  is,  the 
golden  offerings  that  were  kept  in 
the  temple,  or  by  the  gift  that  had 
been  laid  upon  the  altar,  or  by  God, 
he  was  under  obligation  to  keep  it. 
The  force  of  his  exposure  of  their 
hypocrisy  lies  in  *'.iis,  that  all  oaths 
22 


the  altar  that   sanctifieth   the 
gift? 

20  Whoso  therefore  shall 
swear  by  the  altar,  sweareth 
by  it,  and  by  all  things  there- 
on. 

21  And  whoso  shall  swear  by 
the  temple,  sweareth  by  it, 
and  by  him  that  dwelleth 
therein. 

22  And  he  that  shall  swear 
by  heaven,  sweareth  by  the 
throne  of  God,  and  by  him 
that  sitteth  thereon. 

23  Woe  unto  you,  scribes  and 
Pharisees,  lrypocrites !  for  ye 
pay  tithe  of  mint  and  anise 
and  cummin,  and  have  omit- 
ted the  weightier  matters  of 
the  law,  judgment,  mercy,  and 


have  necessary  reference  to  God 
himself,  and  are  therefore  binding. 
Notice  his  application  of  the  term 
fool,  and  see  5  :  22,  with  the  remark 
in  the  last  paragraph  of  the  notes. 

23.  Tithe— A  tenth.  For  the 
tithe-law,  see  Lev.  27  :  30-32.  By 
this  law,  the  Jews  were  required  to 
pay  for  the  support  of  the  Levites 
(concerning  whom  see  note  on  John 
1 :  19),  one-tenth  of  the  produce  of 
the  soil  and  one-tenth  of  their  flocks 
and  cattle.  These  ought  ye  to  have 
done — The  tithe  of  the  small  herbs 
would  seem,  then,  to  have  been 
required,  though  the  terms  of  the 
law  have  been  thought  to  make  it 
doubtful.  Mint— An  herb  used, 
doubtless,  by  the  Jews  as  a  condi- 
ment in  cookery.  Anise — The  herb 
is  "  similar  to  the  dill  in  properties, 
but  is  an  entirely  distinct  plant.  .  . 
Both  the  plant  and  the  seed  were 
used  by  the  ancients  as  a  condi- 
ment, the  latter  having  a  warm,  aro- 
matic flavor  resembling  that  of  cara- 
way seed."  Cummin — "  An  um- 
belliferous plant,"  that  is,  a  plant 
the  flowers  of  which  were  shaped 


254 


MATTHEW. 


faith  :  these  ought  ye  to  have 
done,  and  not  to  leave  the 
other  undone. 

24  Ye  blind  guides,  which 
strain  at  a  gnat,  and  swallow 
a  camel. 

25  Woe  unto  you,  scribes  and 
Pharisees,  hypocrites  !  for  ye 
make  clean  the  outside  of  the 
cup  and  of  the  platter,  but 
within  they  are  full  of  extor- 
tion and  excess. 

26  Thou  blind  Pharisee, 
cleanse  first  that  which  is 
within    the   cup    and    platter, 


like  an  umbrella.  "  The  seeds  have 
a  bitterish,  warm  taste,  with  an  aro- 
matic flavor."  Judgment — Not  jus- 
tice, but  the  practice  of  what  the 
principles  of  justice  or  righteousness 
require.  The  scrupulosity  with 
which  the  Pharisees  paid  tithes  of 
little  garden  herbs,  and  their  inward 
unrighteousness,  proved  them  to  be 
hypocrites.  Such  hypocrisy  has 
been  shown  in  every  age.  The 
neglect  of  the  few,  simple,  outward 
rites  of  Christianity,  as  the  public 
worship  of  God,  baptism,  and  the 
Lord's  Supper,  under  the  pretence 
of  having  inward  righteousness,  is 
itself  also  condemned  in  these  words 
of  our  Lord  :  Leave  not  the  other  un- 
done. 

24.  Strain  at  a  gnat — Strain  out 
a  gnat,  at  being,  probably,  a  typo- 
graphical error  in  the  very  first 
edition  of  King  James'  translation 
(1G11).  Nearly  all  the  previous 
English  translations  had  it  right. 
The  scribes  and  Pharisees,  in  the 
great  nicety  of  their  outward  right- 
eousness, did  undoubtedly,  like  the 
Buddhists  of  Hindostan,  strain  off 
their  wine  lest  they  should  mar  their 
claim  to  heaven  by  drinking  a  gnat. 
They  were  afraid  of  violating  the 
law  (Lev.  11 :  41)  :  And  every  creep- 
ing thing  that  creep eth  upon  the 
earth  shall  he  an  abomination :  it 


that  the  outside  of  them  may 
be  clean  also. 

27  Woe  unto  you,  scribes  and 
Pharisees,  hypocrites !  for  ye 
are  like  unto  whited  sepul- 
chres, which  indeed  appear 
beautiful  outward,  but  are 
within  full  of  dead  men's 
bones,  and  of  all  unclean- 
ness. 

28  Even  so  ye  also  outwardly 
appear  righteous  unto  men, 
but  within  ye  are  full  of  h}r- 
pocrisy  and  iniquity, 

29  Woe  unto  you,  scribesand 


shall  not  be  eaten.  Sicallow  a,  camel 
— Commit  the  greatest  sins  without 
compunction. 

25,  26.  Figurative  language,  iu 
which  they  are  charged  with  extor- 
tion,  rapacity,  and  with  excess,  licen- 
tiousness, while  endeavoring  to 
maintain  the  appearance  of  piety  by 
attention  to  the  outward  forms  of 
religion.  Members  of  Christian 
churches  who  are  guilty  of  dishon- 
esty, and  members  who  are  living  in 
secret  impurity,  may  here  see  how 
they  are  regarded  by  Him  whom 
they  profess  to  serve. 

27, 28.  The  denunciation  becomes 
still  more  severe.  He  charges  them 
with  being  full  of  hypocrisy  and  in- 
iquity. For  the  meaning  of  the 
former,  see  note  on  6  :  2,  under  the 
word  hypocrites,  last  paragraph. 
Iniquity  here  means  lawlessness. 
They  were  lawless  legalists,  and 
therefore  profound  hypocrites.  The 
denunciation  rests  upon  a  compari- 
son with  sepulchres.  These  were 
full  of  the  bones  of  dead  men  and 
of  the  impurity  which  would  result 
from  the  decomposition  of  human 
bodies,  the  annual  "whiting"  of 
the  sepulchres  after  the  rains  mak- 
ing of  course  no  sort  of  difference 
witli  their  inward  state. 

29-31.  He  here  advances  a  step 
further,  inasmuch  as  he  makes  the 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


255 


Pharisees,  hypocrites !  be- 
cause ye  build  the  tombs  of 
the  prophets,  and  garnish  the 
sepulchres  of  the  righteous, 

30  And  say,  If  we  had  been 
in  the  days  of  our  fathers,  we 
would  not  have  been  partak- 
ers with  them  in  the  blood  of 
the  prophets. 

31  Wherefore  ye  be  witnesses 
unto  yourselves,  that  ye  are 
the  children  of  them  which 
killed  the  prophets. 

32  Fill  ye  up  then  the  meas- 
ure of  your  fathers. 


bold  assertion  that  they  are  them- 
selves conscious  of  hypocrisy.  They 
build  tombs  for  the  prophets  whom 
their  fathers  slew,  and  garnish, 
adorn,  the  sepulchres  of  the  right- 
eous, and  think  it  a  thing  of  great 
merit.  They  even  boast  that  had 
they  lived  in  the  time  of  their  fathers, 
they  would  not  have  imbrued  their 
hands  in  the  blood  of  the  prophets. 
Wherefore — So  that.  As  you  go 
contrary  to  the  teachings  of  the 
prophets  by  your  persecutions  of 
me,  you  are  yourselves  conscious 
of  hypocrisy  in  your  ostentatious 
honoring  of  their  character  by  build- 
ing monumental  tombs.  So  you 
prove  that  you  are  the  children  of, 
like,  the  murderers  of  the  prophets, 
instead  of  being  like  the  prophets 
themselves. 

32.  Fill  ye  np,  then — The  impera- 
tive form  of  the  verb  should  create 
no  difficulty.  It  is  not  an  authoriza- 
tion of  their  murderous  purpose 
relative  to  himself,  but  is  a  rhetori- 
cal statement  of  what  he  knows  they 
will  do.  When  they  shall  have  put 
him  to  death  and  shall  have  rejected 
the  offer  of  pardon  that  will  be  made 
through  the  apostles,  the  measure 
of  their  fathers'  guilt  will  be  full. 
This  of  course  contemplates  them  as 
constituting  with  their  fathers  the 
nation,  but  not  to  the  exclusion  of 


33  Ye  serpents,  ye  generation 
of  vipers,  how  can  ye  escape 
the  damnation  of  hell? 

34  f  Wherefore,  behold,  I 
send  unto  }Tou  prophets,  and 
wise  men,  and  scribes :  and 
some  of  them  ye  shall  kill  and 
crucify ;  and  some  of  them 
shall  ye  scourge  in  your  syna- 
gogues, and  persecute  them 
from  city  to  city  : 

35  That  upon  }7ou  may  come 
all  the  righteous  blood  shed 
upon  the  earth,  from  the 
blood  of  righteous  Abel  unto 


the  guilt  that  rests  upon  them  as 
individuals. 

33.  Compare  with  this  the  words 
which  John  addressed  to  the  Phari- 
sees and  Sadducees  who  came  to  his 
baptism :  O  generation  of  vipers, 
who  hath  warned  you  to  flee  from 
the  wrath  to  come  ?  See  note  on  3  : 
7,  last  paragraph,  and  on  12 :  34. 
Their  case  is  now  well-nigh  hopeless. 
The  damnation  of  hell — "The  sen- 
tence which  condemns  to  hell." 
There  are  not  many,  it  is  probable, 
of  whom  Christ  would  say  so  many 
years  before  the  end  of  life,  How 
can  ye  escape  ? 

34.  Wherefore — In  consequence 
of  your  character.  The  two  things 
which  he 'announces  as  flowing  from 
the  fact  of  their  terrible  depravity 
are :  1.  That  he  will  send  them 
prophets,  wise  men,  and  scribes, — 
that  is,  Christian  teachers, — apos- 
tles and  others ;  2.  That  they  will 
persecute  those  teachers,  putting 
some  of  them  to  death.  Stephen, 
James,  and  others  were  killed,  and, 
doubtless,  many  of  whom  no  report 
has  reached  us  were  crucified. 

35.  As  a  retribution  for  their  na- 
tional wickedness  (the  guilt  of  indi- 
viduals still  being  included),  they 
will  be  visited  with  the  consequences 
of  all  the  guilt  incurred  in  shedding 
righteous  blood  from  that  of  Abel, 


256 


MATTHEW. 


the  blood  of  Zaeharias  son  of 
Barachias,  whom  ye  slew  be- 
tween the  temple  and  the  altar. 
36  Verily  I  say  unto  yon,  All 
these  things  shall  come  upon 
this  generation. 


the  first  martyr,  to  that  of  Zaeha- 
rias. By  the  latter  is  probably  meant 
the  Zaeharias  of  2  Chron.  21  :  20-22. 
But  that  man  is  called  the  son  of  Je- 
hoiada.  Why  he  is  here  called  the 
son  of  Barachias,  it  is  impossible 
to  say.  Some  would  solve  the  dif- 
ficulty by  saying  that  Jehoiada  was 
the  grandfather  and  Barachias  the 
father ;  some  by  supposing  that  an 
early  copyist  entered  the  name  Bar- 
achias in  the  margin,  under  the 
impression  that  Jesus  referred  to 
Zechariah  the  prophet,  and  that  af- 
terward it  crept  into  the  text ;  for 
(Zech.  1 :  1)  the  name  of  the  proph- 
et's father  was  Baraehiah.  Where, 
however,  we  have  no  means  of  re- 
moving a  difficulty,  theories  are  of 
little  value.  There  is  nothing  at  all 
serious  involved  in  the  matter.  Be- 
tween the  temple  and  the  altar — Be- 
tween the  temple,  strictly  so  called, 
and  the  altar  of  burnt  offerings  which 
stood  in  the  court  next  surrounding 
the  building ;  that  is,  in  the  priests' 
court.  Zaeharias  was  slain  for 
preaching  against  the  idolatry  of  the 
nation,  and  being  son  of  a  priest, 
being  murdered  in  such  a  place,  and 
for  such  a  reason,  the  crime  was 
peculiarly  heinous.  It  is  partly  for 
that  reason,  and  partly  because,  in 
the  Jewish  arrangement  of  the  books 
of  the  Old  Testament,  the  account 
of  his  death  stood  in  the  last  book, 
that  Jesus  refers  to  it  in  connection 
with  the  first  murder  that  ever  oc- 
curred. 

Jesus  does  not  mean  to  teach  that 
the  Pharisees  of  his  time  were,  as 
individuals,  strictly  speaking,  guilty 
of  the  murder  of  Abel  and  Zaeha- 
rias. He  spoke  chiefly  of  them  as  a 
nation,  which  is  very  evident  from 
the  use  of  the  word  ye,  — whom  ye 


37  O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem, 
thou  that  killest  the  prophets, 
and  sternest  them  which  are 
sent  unto  thee,  how  often 
would  I  have  gathered  thy 
children   together,  even    as    a 


sleiv, — an  act  which  was  done  hun- 
dreds of  years  before  these  men 
were  born.  Yet  it  should  be  borne 
in  mind  that  they  had  the  murder- 
ous spirit  of  their  fathers. 

36.  Upon  this  generation — Jeru- 
salem was  destroyed  about  forty 
years  after.  "Not  the  then  living 
generation,  but  the  Jewish  people 
as  such." — Dr.  Nast.  The  time  was 
so  near,,  and  so  many  of  the  people 
would  be  living  at  the  destruction 
of  the  city,  that  such  an  interpreta- 
tion is  unnecessary. 

37.  O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem — Af- 
ter the  severity  of  the  judge  comes 
tenderness  surpassing  that  of  the 
most  affectionate  mother  yearning 
over  her  wicked  son.  How  wonder- 
ful the  change !  Ministers,  who  pre- 
sume to  imitate  the  severity  of  Jesus 
forget  that  they  are  not  omniscient. 
Let  them  aim  to  imitate  his  tender- 
ness. Our  Lord,  personifying  the 
city,  views  it  in  its  entire  history. 
It  has  been  accustomed  to  kill  the 
prophets  and  stone  the  messengers 
that  Heaven  has  sent,  and  therefore 
he  uses  the  present  tense.  How 
often — In  former  times  by  the  proph- 
ets, and  now  also.  Would  I  hare 
gathered — Implying  that  it  is  now 
too  late.  As  a  hen — How  both  the 
power  and  the  love  of  Christ  shine 
in  the  beautiful  comparison  !  Hens 
are  now  very  common  in  Palestine, 
and,  according  to  Rabbinical  wri- 
ters, must  have  been  very  common 
in  the  days  of  our  Saviour.  Dr. 
Ilackett  reminds  us  that  "the  eggs 
of  the  hen  are  no  doubt  meant  in 
the  Saviour's  illustration  (Luke  11 : 
12),  which  implies  that  they  were 
very  abundant."  But  the  hen  is  men- 
tioned in  the  Bible  only  here  and  in 
the  parallel  passage  in  Luke  13  :  34. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


257 


nen  gathereth  her  chickens 
under  her  wings,  and  ye  would 
not! 

38  Behold,  your  house  is  left 
unto  yon  desolate. 


If  this  is  remarkable,  it  is  not  more 
remarkable  than  that  the  hen  "is 
nowhere  represented  in  the  paint- 
ings of  ancient  Egypt."  Ye  would 
not — Thus  Jesus  recognizes  the  free- 
dom of  the  human  will, — a  fact  which 
should  be  recognized  by  all  preach- 
ers and  by  all  systems  of  theology, 
not  less  than  man's  entire  depend- 
ence on  the  execution  of  God's  pur- 
pose for  the  renewal  of  the  heart. 

38.  Your  house — The  temple,  as 
the  representative  of  the  city  and  of 
the  nation,  or,  perhaps,  the  city 
likenefl  to  a  bouse. 

39.  So  true  is  it  that  their  house 
is  left  unto  them  desolate,  that  they 
shall  not  see  him  henceforth  till 
they,  that  is,  tbeir  descendants,  shall 
say,  Blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord, — shall  ac- 
knowledge his  Messiahship.  This 
time  is  yet  future.  The  Jews  are 
still  ungathered.  The  house  is  still 
desolate.  Henceforth—  Not,  as  many 
commentators  teach,  that  the  men 
whom  he  is  addressing  will  literally 
never  see  his  face  again,  for  doubt- 
less many  of  them  were  present  at 
his  trial  and  at  his  crucifixion.  There 
is  no  probability  that  they  saw  him 
after  his  resurrection.  If  the  Jcavs 
are  yet  to  acknowledge  Jesus  Christ, 
the  second  advent  cannot  be  so  near 
as  some  are  even  now  teaching. 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

JESUS      DISCOURSES    TO     HIS     DISCI- 
PLES. 

T83  U.C.    Tuesday  Evening,  April 
4,  A..B.  30. 

1.    Departed — Toward  the  even- 
ing of  Tuesday,   and  probably  for 
the  last  time.  In  verse  38  of  the  pre- 
22* 


39  For  I  say  unto  you,  Ye 
shall  not  see  me  henceforth, 
till  ye  shall  say,  Blessed  is  he 
that  cometh  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord. 


ceding  chapter,  he  is  reported  as 
having  prophesied  that  the  temple 
should  be  destroyed.  Under  the  in- 
fluence of  that  remarkable  announce- 
ment, the  disciples  called  his  atten- 
tion to  the  stability  of  the  building. 
According  to  Mark  they  say,  Master, 
see  what  manner  of  stones  and  what 
buildings  are  here  !  They  were  un- 
able to  appreciate  the  prophecy,  but 
we  need  not  suppose,  with  some, 
that  they  were  positively  sceptical 
concerning  it.  Buildings  of  the 
temple — The  Greek  has  two  words 
for  temple ;  the  one  meaning  the 
sacred  building  itself,  the  other  the 
entire  premises, — the  building  and 
the  courts.  Temple  is  here  used  in 
the  wider  sense.  Josephus  says  that 
some  of  the  stones  were  sixty-seven 
feet  long,  seven  feet  high,  and  nine 
feet  broad.  This  is  not  in  the  least 
incredible,  for  in  the  ruins  of  Baal- 
bec,  Syria,  are  stones  of  similar  di« 
mensions.  Dr.  Eobinson  measured 
three  of  the  latter,  and  found  them 
severally  sixty-four  feet,  sixty-three 
feet,  and  sixty-three  feet  eight  inch- 
es long.  Eeferring  to  the  stones 
of  Baalbec,  Thomson  says:  "How 
such  blocks  could  be  transported  a 
mile  over  uneven  ground  to  the  tem- 
ple, and  elevated  to  their  position  or 
its  platform,  is  yet  an  unsolved  prob- 
lem in  the  science  of  mechanical 
forces." 

2.  Not  one  stone  upon  another 
— This  does  not  refer,  let  it  be 
borne  in  mind,  to  the  stones  of  the 
city  walls,  many  courses  of  which 
are  still  lying  in  place,  but  to  those 
of  the  temple.  The  prophecy  was 
made  in  a  time  of  profound  peace, 
but  was  fulfilled  to  the  letter,  not- 
withstanding the  efforts  of  Titus, 
the  Koman  general,  to  save  the 
building,  even  after  it  had  been  set 


258 


MATTHEW. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

AND  Jesus  went  out,  and 
departed  from  the  tem- 
ple :  and  his  disciples  came 
to  him  for  to  shew  him  the 
buildings  of  the  temple. 

2  And  Jesus  said  unto  them, 
See  ye  not  all  these  things? 
verily  I  say  unto  you,  There 


on  fire.  No  human  structures  are 
proof  against  God's  power,  whether 
exerted  through  the  forces  of  na- 
ture, or,  as  in  this  case,  through  the 
human  will. 

3.  He  was  retiring  to  Bethany 
(26 :  6),  and  stopping  as  he  passed 
over  the  Mount  of  Olives,  he  sat 
down,  and  doubtless  looked  back 
over  the  doomed  city.  The  disci- 
ples— Mark  represents  the  questions 
as  asked  by  Peter,  James,  John,  and 
Andrew,  but  it  is  unnecessary  to 
suppose  that  the  others  had  passed 
on  before  him  to  Bethany.  These 
four  may  have  been  nearer  to  him, 
and  may  be  said,  therefore,  to  have 
asked  him  privately  so  far  as  re- 
spects the  other  disciples. 

Inform  three  distinct  questions  are 
reported ;  but  in  the  spirit  in  which 
they  are  put  they  are  substantially 
one.  How  so  ?  The  disciples  blend- 
ed in  their  conceptions  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem,  the  coming  of 
Christ,  and  the  end  of  the  world. 
Had  they  known  more,  they  would 
have  regarded  the  end  of  the  Jew- 
ish polity  as  quite  distinct  from  the 
end  of  the  world.  In  attempting  to 
understand  our  Lord's  reply,  we 
must  be  careful  not  to  -consider  it  as 
exactly  matching  the  questions  of 
the  disciples.  Such  a  method  would 
lead  us  astray.  The  error  of  the 
disciples,  however,  is  corrected. 

The  great  question  relative  to  the 
chapter  is  this :  Is  Jesus  speaking 
only  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusa- 
lem? If  we  must  answer  no,  then 
the   question  will   be,  Does   Jesus 


shall  not  be  left  here  one 
stone  upon  another,  that 
shall  not  be  thrown  down. 

3  f  And  as  he  sat  upon  the 
mount  of  Olives,  the  disciples 
came  unto  him  private^,  say- 
ing, Tell  us,  when  shall  these 
things  be?  and  what  shall  be 
the  sign  of  thy  coming,  and 
of  the  end  of  the  world  ? 


speak  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusa- 
lem and  of  his  coming  at  the  end 
of  the  world,  in  distinct,  consecutive 
portions  ?  or,  does  he  so  blend  them 
as  to  refer  to  both  in  the  same 
words?  If  the  last  question  must 
be  answered  in  the  affirmative,  it 
will  follow  that  we  have  here  a  speci- 
men of  twofold  meaning,  w.Vich  is 
generally  admitted  to  be  a  charac- 
teristic of  several  of  the  Psalms,  in 
which  both  David  and  Christ  are  the 
object. 

Through  the  courtesy  of  its  au- 
thor, llev.  William  F.  Snow,  pastor 
of  the  Eliot  Congregational  Church 
in  Lawrence,  Mass.,  the  writer  has 
been  permitted  to  examine  a  manu- 
script analysis  of  the  chapter,  read 
before  the  Andover  Association  of 
Congregational  ministers,  and  to 
present  for  the  consideration  of  his 
readers  the  substance  of  the  view. 
It  is  of  course  impossible  to  do  the 
author*s  interpretation  justice  in 
the  little  space  that  can  be  spared. 
Mr.  Snow  considers  that  the  key  of 
the  whole  discourse,  ending  with  vs. 
3G,  is  found  in  its  opening  words, 
Take  heed  that  no  man  deceive  you. 
The  disciples  committed  the  mistake 
of  supposing  that  the  calamities  of 
Jerusalem,  culminating  in  the  de- 
struction of  the  temple,  would  be 
the  result  of  the  revelation  of  the 
Son  of  man,  and  as  a  prominent  feat- 
ure of  the  end  of  the  world.  The 
discourse  is  largely  occupied  with 
the  correction  of  their  mistake.  It 
is  not  intended  to  impart  informa- 
tion, but  is  entirely  of  a  cautionary 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


259 


4  And  Jesus  answered  and 
said  unto  them,  Take  heed 
that  no  man  deceive  you. 

5  For  many  shall  come  in 


character,  and  is  not  prophetic  in  the 
strict  sense  of  that  word,  for  it  does 
not  stimulate  but  allays  expecta- 
tion, does  not  invite  but  repels  in- 
quiry. It  answers  the  question, 
When  and  what  sign  ?  only  so  far  as 
is  needful  to  prevent  error.  The 
discourse  separates  into  four  divis- 
ions :  I.  The  first  (5-14)  suggests 
the  probable  sources  of  deception  in 
regard  to  the  coming  of  the  Son  of 
man;  II.  The  second  (15-28)  con- 
siders the  calamities  of  Jerusalem, 
as  a  special   source  of  deception ; 

III.  A  description  of  the  coming  of 
the  Son  of  man  with  special  refer- 
ence to  the  question  of  the  disciples  ; 

IV.  The  discourse  is  summed  up 
(32-36),  and  is  the  answer  to  the 
question  of  the  disciples,  so  far  as 
any  answer  can  be  given.  Here  our 
Lord  distinguishes  between  "these 
things  "  (33,  34)  and  "  that  day  and 
hour"  (36).  By  the  former,  which 
the  disciples  had  used  in  their  ques- 
tion, he  means  the  calamities  of  Je- 
rusalem ;  by  the  latter,  his  coming 
at  the  end  of  the  world. 

This  analysis  is  suggested  by  its 
author  as  "avoiding  the  difficulty 
attending  the  double  reference  to 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and 
the  end  of  the  world."  While  there 
seem  to  be  difficulties  in  the  inter- 
pretation to  which  this  analysis  is 
intended  to  open  the  way,  it  is  wor- 
thy of  examination  by  all  who  wish 
to  understand  this  very  difficult  por- 
tion of  the  Gospel.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  the  true  meaning  of  the 
chapter  will  ever  be  satisfactorily 
determined.  The  interpretation  now 
to  be  given,  which  is  that  of  a  large 
number  of  the  best  biblical  scholars, 
will  proceed  upon  the  supposition 
that  the  primary  reference,  as  far 
as  vs.  43,  is  to  the  destruction  of  Je- 
rusalem, with  a  possible  reference, 


my  name,  saying,  I  am  Christ ; 
and  shall  deceive  many. 

6  And  ye  shall  hear  of  wars 
and  rumours  of  wars  :  see  that 


also,  to  the  coming  of  Christ  at  the 
end  of  the  Christian  dispensation. 

4.  Deceive  you — Cause  you  to  err, 
or,  lead  you  astray, — perhaps,  rela- 
tive to  Christ's  coming  at  the  end  of 
the  world.  Freedom  of  will  is  not 
inconsistent  with  liability  to  be  led 
astray  by  men.  Devils,  then,  may 
lead  one  astray  without  destroying 
one's  freedom. 

5.  Many  shall  come  —  Whether 
such  men  as  Theudas,  Dositheus, 
and  Simon  Magus  are  intended,  as 
some  think,  is  not  quite  certain.  It 
is  at  any  rate  true  that  many  impos- 
tors arose  who  professed  ability  to 
deliver  the  Jews  from  their  troubles, 
and  thousands  were  deceived  by 
them.  Some  in  our  own  times  are 
deceived  by  men  who  profess  to 
know  even  more  concerning  religion 
than  Christ  himself  knew.  In  my 
name — Not  in  the  name  of  Jesus, 
but  in  the  name  of  the  Messiah.  I 
am  Christ — I  am  the  Christ,  that  is, 
the  Messiah  foretold  by  the  proph- 
ets. 

6.  Wars  and  rumors  of  wars- 
It  is  worthy  of  special  notice  that 
when  these  predictions  were  made, 
it  was  a  time  of  profound  peace 
throughout  the  Roman  empire. 
Three^of  the  Roman  emperors,  Ca- 
ligula, Claudius,  and  Nero,  threat- 
ened the  Jews  with  war ;  two  Par- 
thian kings  were  reported  as  declar- 
ing war  against  the  Romans ;  and 
Palestine  was  often  agitated  with 
rumors  of  rebellion  against  Rome. 
The  end  —  Of  the  Jewish  State. 
Amid  such  civil  commotions  the 
disciples  would  be  in  danger  of  sup- 
posing that  the  end  of  the  Jewish 
state  was  very  near.  He  cautions 
them  against  the  danger  of  the  mis- 
take ;  and.  as  they  connected  with 
the  downfall  of  the  state  the  end  of 
the  world,  it  would  seem  as  if  our 


260 


MATTHEW. 


ye  be  not  troubled :  for  all 
these  things  must  come  to  pass, 
but  the  end  is  not  jet. 

7  For  nation  shall  rise  against 
nation,  and  kingdom  against 
kingdom :  and  there  shall  be 
famines,  and  pestilences,  and 
earthquakes,  in  divers  places. 

8  All  these  are  the  beginning 
of  sorrows. 

9  Then    shall   they   deliver 


Lord  must  have  also  intended  to 
caution  them  against  the  mistake  of 
supposing  that  such  civil  agitations 
would  foretoken  the  end  of  the 
world. 

7.  Nation  .  .  .  kingdom — It  is 
unnecessary  to  suppose  that  any- 
special  distinction  is  intended  by 
the  use  of  these  different  terms.  It 
is  merely  a  specimen  of  that  fulness 
of  description  which  prevails  in 
common  speech.  Many  facts  are 
reported  by  Josephus  and  Philo,  not 
disciples  of  Jesus,  which  illustrate 
this  part  of  the  prophecy ;  as  disturb- 
ances at  Alexandria,  the  slaughter 
of  fifty  thousand  Jews  in  Seleucia, 
and  in  a  city  near  Joppa  on  the 
coast  of  the  Mediterranean.  Fam- 
ines, etc. — See  Acts  11 :  28.  "An- 
cient writers  .  .  .  speak  of  several 
local  famines  which  were  severe  in 
particular  countries.  Josephus  men- 
tions one  which  prevailed  at  that 
time  in  Judea,  and  swept  away  many 
of  the  inhabitants.  Helena,  Queen 
of  Adiabene,  a  Jewish  proselyte, 
who  was  then  at  Jerusalem,  imported 
provisions  from  Egypt  and  Cyprus, 
which  she  distributed  among  the 
people  to  save  them  from  starva- 
tion."— JIackett  on  the  Acts.  Pesti- 
lences—  Koman  classical  writers 
speak  of  a  pestilence  in  Rome,  A.D. 
65,  in  which  thirty  thousand  per- 
ished. Pestilences  generally  ac- 
company famines.  Earthquakes — 
Several  of  these  are  known  to  have 
taken  place.  They  are  specified  by 
Alford  as  follows  :  a.  In  Crete,  A. 


you  up  to  be  afflicted,  and 
shall  kill  you :  and  3re  shall 
be  hated  of  all  nations  for  my 
name's  sake. 

10  And  then  shall  many  be 
offended,  and  shall  betray  one 
another,  and  shall  hate  one 
another. 

11  And  many  false  prophets 
shall  rise,  and  shall  deceive 
many. 


D.  46  or  47 ;  b.  One  at  Rome,  A.D. 
51 ;  c.  One  at  Apamea,  in  Phrygia, 
A.D.  53;  d.  One  at  Laodicea,  A.D. 
60 ;  e.  One  in  Campania.  Thus  our 
Lord's  prophecy,  earthquakes  in  di- 
vers places,  was  literally  fulfilled. 

8.  Sorrows — Birth-pangs.  See 
Paul's  remarkable  use  of  the  same 
figure  in  Rom.  8  :  22  :  For  we  know 
that  the  whole  creation  groaneth  and 
travaileth  in  pain  together  until 
now.  In  this  world  of  sin  there  can 
be  no  joy  that  is  not  born  of  sor- 
row. 

9.  Shall  kill  yon — James  the  eld- 
er, James  the  younger,  and  proba- 
bly Paul  and  Peter,  were  put  to 
death  before  Jerusalem  fell.  Hated 
— Arraying  themselves  so  manfully 
and  persistently  against  the  wicked- 
ness of  the  world  and  in  favor  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  Christ's  disciples 
could  not  but  bring  down  upon 
themselves  the  wrath  of  men.  Con- 
sider the  entire  life  of  Paul  from 
the  time  of  his  conversion.  Con- 
sider also  the  life  of  Peter.  Con- 
sult Acts  28 :  22  :  For  as  concern- 
ing this  sect,  we  know  that  every- 
where it  is  spoken  against.  In 
Tacitus,  a  Roman  classical  writer, 
Christians  are  spoken  of  as  hated 
on  account  of  their  crimes.  No  fact 
is  better  attested  than  that  the  early 
disciples  were  the  objects  of  bitter 
persecution  both  by  Jews  and  Gen- 
tiles. Christians  of  the  present  day 
are  the  objects  of  much  sly  hatred 
and  ridicule  in  social  life. 

10.  11.    Many   be  offended — Dis» 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


261 


12  And  because  iniquity 
shall  abound,  the  love  of  many 
shall  wax  cold. 

13  But  he  that  shall  endure 
unto  the  end,  the  same  shall 
be  saved. 

14  And   this  gospel  of  the 


pleased,  and  so  will  renounce  al- 
legiance to  Christ.  The  words  one 
another  imply  that  the  reference  is 
to  professors  of  Christianity.  Betray 
— Proof  of  the  meanness  of  their  de- 
pravity. Of  course  such  depravity 
would  lead  to  mutual  hatred.  False 
prophets — Teachers  of  error  were 
then,  probably,  quite  as  numerous  in 
proportion  to  the  teachers  of  truth 
as  they  are  now,  and  quite  as  daring. 
Proof  of  it  may  be  seen  in  nearly 
every  one  of  the  epistles.  See 
especially  Acts  20  :  30 ;  Gal.  1:7-9; 
2  Cor.  11 :  13.  Those  who  are  in- 
clined to  despond  because  there  are 
now  so  many  teachers  of  error  will 
do  well  to  consider  this  prophecy 
of  our  Lord. 

12.  Iniquity — Lawlessness, which 
may  exist  where  there  is  no  outward 
immorality.  He  who  withdraws  his 
mind  from  the  control  of  God's  will 
is  lawless.  This  internal  lawless- 
ness is  of  course  ever  in  danger  of 
breaking  over  the  bounds  of  exter- 
nal decency  and  of  becoming  vice. 
In  proportion  to  the  prevalence  of 
this  form  of  sin,  whether  subtile  or 
gross,  the  love  of  many,  or,  more 
exactly,  of  the  many,  that  is,  the  ma- 
jority, will  wax,  become,  cold.  The 
Saviour  means  to  say  that  so  gen- 
eral will  be  the  disregard  of  God's 
law,  that  even  the  majority  of  his 
own  disciples  will  relapse,  under  its 
influence,  into  coldness. 

13.  Saved — This  may  refer  in  part 
to  temporal  deliverance,  but  the 
chief  reference  must  be  to  spiritual, 
for  there  is  contrast  with  the  state- 
ment made  in  vs.  12,  and  that  clear- 
ly refers  to  things  spiritual.  Endure 
— Notice  that,  as  on  so  many  other 
occasions,  Jesus  assumes  with  a  di- 


kingdom  shall  be  preached  in 
all  the  world  for  a  witness 
unto  all  nations ;  and  then 
shall  the  end  come. 

15  When  ye  therefore  shall 
see  the  abomination  of  deso- 
lation,   spoken   of  by   Daniel 


vine,  independence  the  freedom  of 
the  human  will.  He  manifests  no 
anxiety  to  save  the  doctrine  from 
perversion,  or  from  apparent  con- 
tradiction with  the  doctrine  of  God's 
sovereignty.  To  the  end — To  the 
end  of  his  life,  whether  that  shall  be 
at  the  end  of  the  calamities  that  are 
to  come  upon  Jerusalem,  or  many- 
years  after.  The  saints'  persever- 
ance implies  the  saints'  activity,  and 
this  implies  God's  activity.  Profes- 
sions of  loyalty  to  Christ  that  ter- 
minate before  the  end  of  life  are 
worthless. 

14.  Here,  as  in  nearly  all  the 
leading  verses  of  the  discourse,  there 
is  room  for  two  widely  different 
views.  The  reference  must  of  course 
be  either  to  the  very  general  preach- 
ing of  the  gospel  in  the  primitive  age 
before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem, 
or  to  the  general  preaching  of  the 
gospel  in  the  latest  times  before  the 
last  advent  of  Christ.  The  writer 
inclines  to  the  former  view.  In  all 
the  world — As  then  known.  The 
gospel  was  preached  from  Spain  to 
India.  Paul  says  (Col.  1:6),  Which 
is  come  unto  you,  as  it  is  in  all  the 
world.  Consult  the  entire  history 
of  apostolic  labor.  For  a  witness — 
Of  the  Light,  of  God's  love  in  Christ. 
John  (1 :  7)  says,  The  same  came 
for  a  witness,  to  bear  witness  of  the 
Light,  that  all  men  through  him 
might  believe.  Then  .  .  .  the  end — 
Of  the  Jewish  State,  including  the 
fall  of  Jerusalem.  The  city  was  not 
destroyed  till  after  the  gospel  had 
been  preached  throughout  the  known 
world. 

15.  When,  therefore — "When,  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  the  end  of  the 
Jewish  State  must  come.     The  holy 


262 


MATTHEW. 


the  prophet,  stand  in  the  holy 
place,  (whoso  readeth,  let  him 
understand,) 

16  Then  let  them  which  be  in 
Judea  flee  into  the  mountains  : 

17  Let  him  which  is  on  the 
housetop  not  come  clown  to 
take  anything  out  of  his 
house : 


place — The  temple,  or  perhaps  the 
city  including  the  temple.  Hie 
abomination  of  desolation — Not  the 
erection  of  the  statue  of  Titus  or 
Hadrian  "on  the  site  of  the  deso- 
lated temple,"  not  "the  Roman  ea- 
gles as  military  ensigns,"  not  "  the 
idol  statue  of  Jupiter  set  up  in  the 
temple  by  Antiochus  Epiphanes," 
not  the  desecration  of  the  temple  by 
the  Zealots,  but  the  Roman  armies ; 
and  in  proof  see  Luke  21 :  20.  By 
Daniel— 9  :  27;  11 :  31 ;  12 :  11.  Here 
we  have  our  Lord's  authority  for  re- 
garding Daniel  as  inspired  to  fore- 
tell events.  Whoso  readeth,  etc. — 
Let  the  reader  mark  it !  let  him 
think  of  it !  It  is  probable  that  these 
are  the  words,  not  of  Jesus,  but  of  the 
evangelist,  calling  special  attention 
to  what  is  here  said. 

16.  The  Christians  obeyed  the 
direction  here  given.  An  ancient 
historian  affirms  that  they  fled  to 
Pella,  a  city  supposed  to  be  in  Pe- 
raea,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Jor- 
dan. It  is  believed  that  not  one 
Christian  fell  in  the  siege.  The 
siege  was  raised  not  long  after  it 
was  begun,  Cestius  Gallus,  the  com- 
mander, recalling  the  troops.  This 
gave  opportunity,  before  the  final 
siege  by  Titus,  for  the  Christians  to 
flee.  Compare  Lot  fleeing  from 
Sodom  with  Christ's  disciples  fleeing 
from  Jerusalem.  Wicked  cities  may 
become  too  bad  for  the  righteous  to 
dwell  in.  Until  God  bids  the  good 
depart  from  a  wicked  city,  they 
better  stay  and  help  improve  it. 

17,  18.  Strong  expressions  to 
awaken  the  disciples  to  promptness 


18  Neither  let  him  which  is  in 
the  field  return  back  to  take 
his  clothes. 

19  And  woe  unto  them  that 
are  with  child,  and  to  them 
that  give  suck  in  those  days  ! 

20  But  prajr  ye  that  your 
flight  be  not  in  the  winter, 
neither  on  the  sabbath  day  : 


and  even  haste  in  the  crisis  that  will 
come.  They  should  not  be  taken 
too  literally ;  yet,  if  at  the  approach 
of  the  Roman  armies  one  chanced 
to  be  on  the  roof  of  his  house — the 
roofs  were  flat — he  might  and  prob- 
ably would  have  found  literal  com- 
pliance with  the  command  neces- 
sary. As  houses  were  then  built, 
one  could  have  escaped  without  be- 
ing under  the  necessity  of  going 
down  into  and  through  the  house. 
One  might  have  run  over  many  roofs 
till  he  came  near  to  a  gate  of  the 
city.  Anything — Not  a  single  ar- 
ticle, but  things  generally.  Better 
lose  all  for  the  sake  of  escaping. 

19,  20.  Woe— Not  like  the  woes 
denounced  against  the  Pharisees. 
This  is  the  woe  of  pity.  How  re- 
markable the  words  of  vs.  19  as  an 
expression  of  the  Redeemer's  holy 
sympathy !  Not  in  the  winter — Be- 
cause of  the  greater  suffering.  '  'Dur- 
ing January  and  February  snow 
often  falls  to  the  depth  of  a  foot  or 
more,  though  it  may  not  make  its 
appearance  for  several  years  to- 
gether. In  1854-5  it  remained  on 
the  ground  for  a  fortnight.  Nor  is 
this  of  late  occurrence  only,  but  is 
reported  by  Shaw  in  1722.  In  1818 
it  was  between  two  and  three  feet 
deep.  In  1754  a  heavy  fall  took 
place,  and  twenty-five  persons  are 
said  to  have  been  frozen  to  death  at 
Nazareth."  —  Smith's  Dictionary. 
On  the  Sabbath  day — Because  the 
Jews  might  impede  their  flight  by 
insisting  that  they  should  not  travel 
more  than  a  Sabbath  day's  journey, 
which  was  about  a  mile.  Pray,  etc. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


263 


21  For  then  shall  be  great 
tribulation,  such  as  was  not 
since  the  beginning  of  the 
world  to  this  time,  no,  nor 
ever  shall  be. 


— Another  remarkable  illustration  of 
our  Lord's  perception,  though  not 
expressed,  of  the  harmony  between 
God's  purposes  and  man's  freedom. 
Observe,  however,  that  Jesus  makes 
no  attempt  to  impart  his  knowledge 
of  that  harmony  to  us.  He  either 
saw.  it  is  probable,  that  such  knowl- 
edge was  unnecessary,  or  that  our 
minds  are  not  endowed  with  ca- 
pacity to  receive  it.  The  prayers 
which  the  disciples  were  to  offer 
were  a  part  of  God's  plan;  but 
whether  that  fact  or  some  other  is 
the  ground  of  the  harmony,  we  have 
no  means  of  knowing.  Not  even  in 
heaven  may  we  be  able  to  see  the 
ground  of  the  harmony  between  the 
actings  of  the  human  will  and  the 
actings  of  the  divine  will.  As  Jesus 
saw  not  only  the  fact  of  the  harmo- 
ny, but  the  ground  of  the  fact,  we 
need  not  indulge  in  anxiety  concern- 
ing the  matter,  and  should  be  very 
careful  how  we  speculate  concern- 
ing it. 

21.  For — The  reason  why  they 
should  be  in  such  haste  to  escape. 
Great  tribulation — See  Dan.  12  :  1, 
and  the  remarkable  prophecy  in 
Deut.  28  :  49-57.  The  strong  state- 
ment of  this  verse  would  be  ad- 
mitted as  literally  true  so  far  as 
respects  the  Jewish  people.  The 
sufferings  which  came  upon  the 
Jews  during  the  siege  are  depicted 
by  Josephus  in  fearful  colors.  The 
student  should  be  apprised,  however, 
that  Josephus  is  believed  by  some  to 
have  greatly  exaggerated  the  num- 
ber of  the  sufferers.  He  affirms 
that  one  million  one  hundred  thou- 
sand perished,  and  that  ninety- 
seven  thousand  were  carried  into 
captivity.  It  has  been  estimated 
{Jerusalem,  Smith's  Dictionary), 
by  Mr.  James  Fergusson,  "that the 


22  And  except  those  days 
should  be  shortened,  there 
should  no  flesh  be  saved  :  but 
for  the  elect's  sake  those  days 
shall  be  shortened. 


population  of  Jerusalem,  in  its  days 
of  greatest  prosperity,  may  have 
amounted  to  from  thirty  thousand 
to  forty-five  thousand  souls,  but 
could  hardly  ever  have  reached 
fifty  thousand;  and  assuming  that 
in  times  of  festival  one-half  were 
added  to  this  amount,  which  is  an 
extreme  estimate,  there  may  have 
been  sixty  thousand  or  seventy 
thousand  in  the  city  when  Titus 
came  up  against  it."  Mr.  Fergusson 
suggests,  however,  that,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  flight  of  women  and 
children,  the  population  was  prob- 
ably not  larger  than  usual.  If 
Josephus  has  exaggerated,  the 
probability  is  that  Mr.  Fergusson's 
estimate  is  quite  too  low.  It  is  to 
be  regretted  that  Mr.  Barnes  has 
done  so  much  toward  perpetuating 
the  popular  error,  that  there  were 
more  than  three  millions  of  human 
beings  in  the  city  at  the  time  of  the 
siege.  There  is  no  reason  to  sup- 
pose that  Josephus  exaggerated  the 
degree  of  suffering.  The  number, 
he  says,  of  those  who  perished  by 
famine  was  prodigious,  and  their 
miseries  were  unspeakable,  —  a 
woman,  named  Mary,  putting  to 
death,  and  eating  part  of  her  infant 
son. 

22.  Days  .  .  .  shortened — As  to 
number,  not  as  to  length.  The 
following  causes  have  been  enu- 
merated as  contributing  to  shorten 
the  siege :  1.  Claudius,  A.D.  42  or 
43,  ordered  Herod  Agrippa  to  stop 
strengthening  the  walls ;  2.  In 
consequence  of  their  divisions,  the 
Jews  had  made  no  preparation  to 
withstand  a  siege  ;  3.  The  corn  and 
provisions  had  been  burnt  just  be- 
fore the  arrival  of  Titus ;  4.  Titus 
arrived  suddenly  and  the  Jews  vol- 
untarily abandoned  some  part  of  the 


264 


MATTHEW. 


23  Then  if  any  man  shall  say 
unto  you,  Lo,  here  is  Christ, 
or  there  ;  believe  it  not. 

24  For  there  shall  arise  false 
Christs,  and  false  prophets, 
and  shall  shew  great  signs 
and  wonders  ;  insomuch  that, 
if  it  were  possible,  the}r  shall 
deceive  the  very  elect. 

25  Behold,  I  have  told  you 
before. 

26  Wherefore  if  they  shall 


fortification ;  5.  According  to  Jose- 
phus,  Titus  acknowledged  that  it 
was  by  God's  power  he  had  suc- 
ceeded in  capturing  the  city.  No 
flesh — So  many  more  would  perish, 
that  it  might  be  said  in  the  strong 
language  of  common  life  that  not  a 
man  would  be  saved.  Elecfs  sake 
— For  the  sake  of  the  Lord's  chosen 
people.  According  as  he  hath  chosen 
us  in  him,  before  the  foundation  of 
the  world.  Eph.  1 :  4.  Even  wicked 
men  may  get  some  temporal  good 
in  consequence  of  God's  love  for 
his  people.  Compare  God's  for- 
bearance toward  Jerusalem,  with 
that  which  he  would  have  shown 
toward  Sodom,  had  there  been  in 
that  city  ten  righteous  men. 

23-26.  Then— At  the  time  of  the 
siege.  Christ — The  Christ,  the 
Messiah.  He  intimates  that  some 
impostor  will  cry  out,  Here  is  the 
Messiah !  and  that  the  words  will 
hardly  have  escaped  from  his  lips 
before  another  will  exclaim,  Here 
is  the  Messiah !  It  should  be  here 
in  both  cases,  for  the  word  is  the 
same  in  the  original.  Shall  show 
signs,  etc. — Not  necessarily  mira- 
cles, but  the  appearance  of  them. 
Their  signs  will  be  as  false  as  them- 
selves. If  .  .  .  possible — The  im- 
possibility of  leading  the  chosen 
astray  was  owing  to  the  special 
provision  which  God  had  made  for 
keeping  them.  My  sheep  shall  never 
perish.  John  10:  28  Apart  from 
that  special   provision,  the  chosen 


say  unto  you,  Behold,  he  is  in 
the  desert ;  go  not  forth :  be- 
hold, he  is  in  the  secret  cham- 
bers ;  believe  it  not. 

27  For  as  the  lightning  Com- 
eth out  of  the  east,  and  shineth 
even  unto  the  west ;  so  shall 
also  the  coming  of  the  Son  of 
man  be. 

28  For  wheresoever  the  car- 
cass is,  there  will  the  eagles 
be  gathered  together. 

are  as  liable  to  fall  as  Adam,  as  lia- 
ble to  perish  as  Judas.  Behold, 
etc. — This  is  said  for  the  purpose 
of  impressing  upon  their  minds  the 
duty  of  using  their  freedom  in  re- 
sisting the  false  Christs  and  the 
false  teachers, — a  rebuke  to  those 
church-members,  who,  in  mere 
curiosity,  give  their  presence  and 
consequently  their  encouragement 
to  spiritualists  and  other  errorists. 
To  say  that  they  go  merely  to  look 
on,  is  an  insult  to  Christ.  Would 
our  Lord  have  justified  the  disciples 
in  going  into  the  desert,  or  into 
some  secret  chamber, — any  private 
place, — where  the  false  Christs 
were,  merely  to  look  on? 

27,  28.  As  the  lightning — In- 
stead of  having  time  to  go,  forth  into 
the  desert,  or  into  some  private 
place,  you  will  see  Christ  coming 
with  such  suddenness  that,  as  I 
have  already  told  you,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  flee  for  your  life. 
Many  commentators  have  the 
utmost  conviction  that  these  words 
refer  to  the  final  coming  of  Christ. 
But  see  vs.  34.  They  may  be  re- 
garded as  suggestive  of  the  second 
coming.  Wlieresoever  the  carcass, 
etc. — A  proverbial  saying  applicable 
to  any  organization,  religious,  na- 
tional, or  political,  or  to  any  individ- 
ual, whose  sin  has  become  so  great 
as  to  call  for  special  judgments. 
Here  the  reference  is  undoubtedly 
to  the  coming  of  the  Eoman  armies 
to  the  city  of  Jerusalem.     Eagles  — 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


265 


29  %  Immediately  after  the 
tribulation  of  those  days  shall 


It  is  assumed  by  Barnes,  Owen,  and 
even  Lange,  that  it  is  vultures  to 
which  the  Saviour  refers  ;  but  in  the 
American  edition  of  Smith's  "Dic- 
tionary of  the  Bible,"  it  is  affirmed, 
that  "as  eagles  frequently  prey  upon 
dead  bodies,  there  is  no  necessity  to 
restrict  the  Greek  word  to  Vulturi- 
dce;  "  and  in  a  note  is  the  following  : 
"It  is  necessary  to  remember  that 
no  true  eagle  will  kill  for  himself, 
if  he  can  find  dead  flesh." 

29.  At  this  verse,  in  the  opinion 
of  many,  begins  a  distinct  prophecy 
of  the  coming  of  Christ  at  the  last 
judgment.  In  the  opinion  of  others, 
equally  learned  and  devout,  the 
prophecy  still  pertains  to  Jerusa- 
lem, though  suggestive,  some  would 
say  symbolical,  of  Christ's  last 
coming.  We  accept,  as  the  more 
probable,  the  latter,  and  give  the 
following  as  some  of  the  reasons  : 
1.  The  statement  (vs.  34),  This 
generation  shall  not  pass  till  all 
these  things  be  fulfilled.  The  at- 
tempt to  prove  that  the  Greek  here 
rendered  generation  means  race 
has  not  been  successful.  It  is  very 
difficult  to  believe  that  by  this  gen- 
eration— notice  the  force  of  this — 
the  disciples  could  have  understood 
Jesus  as  meaning  any  other  than 
the  generation  then  living;  2.  The 
use  of  the  word  immediately;  3. 
The  correspondence  of  the  words, 
the  tribulation  of  those  days,  with 
the  words  in  vs.  21,  Then  shall  be 
great  tribulation,  and  in  vs.  22, 
except  those  days  should  be  short- 
ened; 4.  The  evident  connection, 
and  that  very  close,  of  the  parallel 
words  in  Luke  21 :  25,  with  vv.  22- 
24 ;  5.  The  language  of  this  29th 
verse  is  used  by  prophets,  figurative- 
ly, to  denote  great  political  changes. 
See  Isa.  13  :  9,  10.  "Here,"  as  we 
are  reminded  by  Prof.  Stuart,  "  vs. 
10  contains  the  very  same  imagery 
which  is  employed  in  Matt.  24  :  29." 
But  the  prophet  is  speaking  of  the 
23 


the  sun  be  darkened,  and  the 
moon  shall  not  give  her  light, 


destruction  of  Babylon.  See  also 
Isa.  24:  20,  23,  for  similar  meta- 
phors applied  to  former  judgments 
of  God  upon  Jerusalem.  See  Isa. 
34 :  4,  describing  judgments  upon 
Idumea.  See  Acts  2 :  19,  20,  upon 
which  we  quote  at  length  from  Dr. 
Hackett's  Commentary:  "In  the 
interpretation  of  the  passage  before 
us,  I  follow  those  who  understand 
it  as  having  primary  reference  to 
the  calamities  which  God  inflicted 
on  the  Jews  in  connection  with  the 
overthrow  of  Jerusalem,  and  the 
destruction  of  the  Jewish  State  and 
nation.  The  reasons  for  these  opin- 
ions are  briefly  these  :  1.  The  law 
of  correspondence  would  lead  us  to 
apply  this  part  of  the  prophecy  to 
the  same  period  to  which  the  other 
part  has  been  applied,  that  is,  to  the 
early  times  of  the  gospel;  2.  The 
expression,  the  day  of  the  Lord,  in 
vs.  20,  according  to  a  very  common 
use  in  the  Hebrew  prophets,  de- 
notes a  day  when  God  comes  to 
make  known  his  power  in  the  pun- 
ishment of  his  enemies,  a  day  of  the 
signal  display  of  his  vengeance  for 
the  rejection  of  long-continued 
mercies,  and  the  commission  of 
aggravated  sins.  The  subversion 
of  the  Jewish  State  was  such  an 
occasion.  It  appropriates  fully 
every  trait  of  that  significant  desig- 
nation; 3.  Part  of  the  language 
here  coincides  almost  verbally  with 
that  in  Matthew  24  :  29 ;  and  if  the 
language  there,  as  understood  by 
most  interpreters,  describes  the 
downfall  of  the  Jewish  State,  we 
may  infer  from  the  similarity  that 
the  subject  of  the  discourse  is  the 
same  in  both  places ;  4.  The  entire 
phraseology,  when  construed  ac- 
cording to  the  laws  of  prophetic 
language,  is  strikingly  appropriate 
to  represent  the  unsurpassed  hor- 
rors and  distress  which  attended 
the  siege  and  destruction  of  Jerusa- 
lem, and  to  announce  the  extinction 


MATTHEW. 


and  the  stars  shall  fall  from 
heaven,  and  the  powers  of  the 
heavens  shall  be  shaken  : 

30  And  then  shall  appear  the 
sign  of  the  Son  of  man  in 
heaven :  and  then  shall  all 
the  tribes  of  the  earth  mourn, 
and  they  shall  see  the  Son  of 
man  coming  in  the  clouds  of 
heaven  with  power  and  great 
glory. 

31  And  he  shall  send  his  an- 
gels with  a  great  sound  of  a 
trumpet,  and  they  shall  gather 
together  his  elect  from  the  four 
winds,  from  one  end  of  heaven 
to  the  other. 


of  the  Jewish  power  and  glory  of 
the  Jewish  worship  which  that  ca- 
tastrophe involved.  Yet  here  too 
(see  on  vs.  18)  we  are  to  recognize 
the  wider  scope  of  the  prophecy. 
The  destruction  of  the  Jews  is  held 
forth  by  the  apostle  as  a  type  of 
the  destruction  which  is  to  come 
upon  every  rejecter  of  the  gospel." 
Powers  of  the  heavens — Sun,  moon, 
and  stars. 

30,  31.  Most  persons  have  been 
so  accustomed  to  regard  these  words 
as  descriptive  of  Christ's  last  com- 
ing, that  it  is  not  surprising  that 
they  find  it  difficult  to  believe  them 
as  descriptive  of  anything  else ;  but 
let  them  weigh  what  is  said  concern- 
ing vs.  29,  for  most  of  it  is  as  ap- 
plicable to  these  verses  as  to  that. 
Especially  let  them  consider  that,  as 
stated  in  vs.  34,  all  these  things  were 
to  be  fulfilled  before  that  generation 
would  pass  away.  The  sign — Not, 
as  Alford,  the  sign  of  the  cross,  but 
the  Son  of  man  himself.  Coming  in 
— Coming  on.  How  familiar  to  the 
Jewisb  mind  of  our  Lord's  day  must 
have  been  this  phraseology  as  a 
figurative  description  of  any  strik- 
ing judgment,  will  appear  by  ex- 
amination of  Ps.   18:  11;    104:  3; 


32  Now  learn  a  parable  of  the 
fig  tree ;  When  his  branch  is 
yet  tender,  and  putteth  forth 
leaves,  ye  know  that  summer 
is  nigh : 

33  So  likewise  ye,  when  ye 
shall  see  all  these  things,  know 
that  it  is  near,  even  at  the 
doors. 

34  Verily  I  say  unto  you,This 
generation  shall  not  pass,  till 
all  these  things  be  fulfilled. 

35  Heaven  and  earth  shall 
pass  away,  but  my  words  shall 
not  pass  away. 

36  f  But  of  that  day  and  hour 
knoweth  no  man,  no,  not  the 


Ezek.  1:4;  Isa.  19 :  1 ;  Dan.  7 :  13. 
Christ  was  to  come  to  take  ven- 
geance on  Jerusalem.  But  it  is  ad- 
mitted that  his  coming  at  the  last 
judgment  is  elsewhere  described  in 
language  similar  to  this ;  for  exam- 
ple, in  vs.  31  of  the  very  next  chap- 
ter, and  2  Thess.  1 :  7.  His  angels 
— Comparing  this  with  Luke  21 :  28, 
we  incline  to  the  opinion  that  by 
angels  is  meant  the  ministering 
spirits,  not  necessarily  visible,  by 
whom  the  Christians  were  to  be 
aided  to  escape.  Trumpet — As  it 
was  by  means  of  the  trumpet  that 
the  ancient  assemblies  of  the  Jews 
were  called  together,  the  nletaphor 
here  used  is  very  natural.  Shall 
gather — "It  was  a  summons,"  says 
Prof.  Stuart  ("  Bibliotheca  Sacra," 
April,  1852),  "to  gather  them  to- 
gether, so  to  speak,  that  they  might 
put  themselves  under  the  protection 
of  the  Son  of  man,  while  his  judg- 
ments were  abroad  in  the  land.  If, 
in  the  verse  before  us,  it  were  a 
summons  for  the  final  judgment, 
why  should  not  the  wicked  be  gath- 
ered as  well  as  the  righteous  ? " 
Four  winds  —  From  <every  place 
where  the  chosen  were. 
32-35.    Jesus  now  illustrates  in  a 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


267 


angels  of  heaven,  but  my  Fa- 
ther only. 

37  But  as  the  days  of  Noe 
were,  so  shall  also  the  coming 
of  the  Son  of  man  be. 

38  For  as  in  the  da}^s  that 
were  before  the  flood  thej^ 
were  eating  and  drinking, 
marrying  and  giving  in  mar- 
riage, until  the  day  that  Noe 
entered  into  the  ark, 

simple  but  impressive  manner  the 
certainty  of  his  coming  as  indicated 
in  the  signs.  As  to  the  fi^-tree,  see 
notes  on  21:  18,  19;  Mark  11: 
12-14.  A  parable  of—  The  parable 
from  :  Learn  the  parable  which  may 
be  constructed  from  the  fig-tree.  As 
the  summer  is  known  to  be  nigh 
when  the  branch  of  the  fig-tree  is 
yet,  already,  tender,  and  leaves  are 
putting  forth,  so  when  all  these 
things,  the  signs  which  I  have  given 
you,  have  appeared,  know  that  the 
destruction  which  I  have  foretold  is 
near.  This  generation  shall  not 
pass,  etc. — In  view  of  these  words 
it  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  see  how 
Jesus  can  have  hitherto  referred  to 
his  final  coming.  Heaven  and  earth, 
etc. — See  note  on  5  :  18.  Many  ra- 
tionalists reverse  this  saying.  Heav- 
en and  earth,  they  say,  are  eternal ; 
Christ's  words  must  give  way  to  the 
teachings  of  science, — a  sentiment 
distinctly  avowed  at  a  meeting  of 
"  The  Free  Religious  Association." 
36.  Mark  (13  :  32)  inserts  :  Nei- 
ther the  Son.  Having  made  the 
general  statement  that  his  coming 
will  occur  before  that  generation 
has  passed  away,  he  now  affirms,  in 
answer  to  the  inquiry  of  the  disci- 
ples, When  ?  that  he  does  not  know 
exactly  when.  He  has  proved  him- 
self to  know  but  little  less  than  in- 
finitely more  than  men,  and  that 
little  less  pertains  to  the  precise 
time.  As  to  this  one  point  he  puts 
himself  on  a  level  with  angels  and 


39  And  knew  not  until  the 
flood  came,  and  took  them  all 
awaj' ;  so  shall  also  the  com- 
ing of  the  Son  of  man  be. 

40  Then  shall  two  be  in  the 
field ;  the  one  shall  be  taken, 
and  the  other  left. 

41  Two  ivomen  shall  be  grind- 
ing at  the  mill ;  the  one  shall 
be  taken,  and  the  other  left. 

42  "If  Watch  therefore  ;  for  ye 


men.  How  he  could  have  been  ig- 
norant even  of  this,  and  have  known 
so  much  as  he  did  know,  even  affirm- 
ing, and  that,  as  the  event  showed, 
truthfully,  that  not  one  stone  would 
be  left  on  another,  is  indeed  beyond 
our  power  to  understand,  but  not  in 
the  least  more  so  than  that,  if  he 
was  God,  he  could  have  grown  in 
wisdom.  Luke  2 :  52.  We  must 
ever  remember  that  Jesus  Christ, 
when  on  earth,  was  not  merely 
God,  but  that  he  was  God  mani- 
fest in  the  flesh.  He  avowed,  knowl- 
edge of  so  much  of  the  future  as  to 
prove  that  as  God  he  knew  all  the 
future ;  he  knew  enough  less  than 
all  the  future  to  prove  that  he  was 
man.  The  harmony  of  the  two  facts 
is  beyond  our  power  to  conceive. 

37-41.  Noe  —  The  more  proper 
form,  Noah.  He  now  illustrates 
the  utter  thoughtlessness  of  the 
Jews  at  the  time  of  the  crisis,  and, 
secondly,  the  remarkable  providen- 
tial deliverance  which  many  shall 
have.  He  illustrates  the  former 
from  Old  Testament  histoiy.  As 
men  and  women  continued  their 
ordinary  course  of  life,  notwith- 
standing all  the  warnings  they  had 
received  from  Noah,  and  knew  not, 
had  no  impressive  conviction  of  the 
certainty  of  their  destruction,  but 
were  all  swept  away,  so  it  will  be 
when  the  great  crisis  has  come  upon 
Jerusalem.  Notwithstanding  the 
distresses  that  the  Jews  shall  have 
long  endured  in  the  siege,  yet  (this 


268 


MATTHEW. 


know    not 
Lord  doth 


what 
come. 


hour    vour 


is  the  real  point  of  the  comparison) 
they  will  continue  to  flatter  them- 
selves to  the  last  that  they  are  free 
from  all  danger. 

But  to  some  there  will  be  given 
such  remarkable  deliverance  that  it 
will  be  like  taking  the  one  and  leav- 
ing the  other  of  two  men  who  are 
working  together  in  the  same  field ; 
like  taking  the  one  of  the  two  wom- 
en grinding  at  the  mill  and  leaving 
the  other.  The  history  of  disas- 
ters is  full  of  equally  striking  con- 
trasts. Grinding  at  the  mill — See 
note  on  18 :  6,  concerning  mill- 
BtOli.es,  "When  at  work  with  it" 
[the  hand-mill]  "teo  women  sit  at 
the   mill   facing   each   other;    both 


43  But  know  this,  that  if  the 
woodman   of  the    house    had 


have  hold  of  the  handle  by  which 
the  upper  is  turned  round  on  the 
'  nether '  millstone.  The  one  whose 
right  hand  is  disengaged  throws  in 
the  grain  as  occasion  requires 
through  the  hole  in  the  upper  stone, 
which  is  called  the  rekkab  (rider) 
in  Arabic,  as  it  was  long  ago  in  He- 
brew. Both  retain  their  hold,  and 
pull  to,  or  push  from,  as  men  do 
with  the  whip  or  cross-cut  saw. 
The  proverb  of  our  Saviour  is  true 
to  the  life,  for  women  only  grind.  I 
cannot  recall  an  instance  in  which 
men  were  at  the  mill.  It  is  tedious, 
fatiguing  work,  and  slaves,  or  low- 
est servants,  are  set  at  it." — Thom- 
son. 


WOMEN     GRINDING. 


42.  Here,  or  near  this  point,  our 
Lord  seems  to  pass  to  the  higher 
subject  of  his  final  coming.  Posi- 
tiveness  of  opinion,  however,  con- 
cerning a  matter  so  obscure  is  un- 
seemly. Dogmatism  is  its  offspring. 
It  is  clear  that  at  a  point  not  far  in 
advance  of  this,  Christ  teaches  the 
doctrine  of  the  final  judgment.  As 
to  this,  nearly  all  the  principal  com- 


mentators in  the  Christian  world  are 
agreed. 

43,  44.  Good  man  —  Master, 
house-keeper.  Broken  up — Broken 
through,  or  dug  through.  See  on  6  : 
19-21,  latter  part  of  the  notes.  "As 
the  vigilant  householder  does  not 
wait  to  be  informed  of  the  approach 
of  the  thief,  but  is  in  a  state  of  con- 
stant watchfulness  against  his   at- 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


269 


known  in  what  watch  the 
thief  would  come,  he  would 
have  watched,  and  would  not 
have  suffered  his  house  to  be 
broken  up. 

44  Therefore  be  ye  also 
ready :  for  in  such  an  hour  as 
ye  think  not  the  Son  of  man 
cometh. 

45  Who  then  is  a  faithful  and 
wise  servant,  whom  his  lord 
hath  made  ruler  over  his 
household,  to  give  them  meat 
in  due  season  ? 

46  Blessed  is  that  servant, 
whom  his  lord  when  he  com- 
eth shall  find  so  doing. 

47  Verily  I  say  unto  you, 


tempts,  so  he  who  watches  for  the 
coming  of  his  Lord  needs  not  be 
informed  of  the  particular  time  in 
which  he  may  be  expected,  but  will 
be  in  constant  readiness  to  receive 
him." — Dr.  J.  J.  Owen. 

45-51.  The  Lord  proceeds  to 
utter  three  parables  for  the  purpose 
of  enforcing  the  duty  of  watching 
for  his  final  coming.  In  this,  the 
first,  he  supposes  a  man  who  is 
about  to  absent  himself  for  a  time, 
without  disclosing  how  long,  to  set 
one  over  his  household  for  the  pur- 
pose of  giving  the  food  at  the  ap- 
pointed hours  of  the  day,  or  possi- 
bly once  a  month,  to  the  members 
of  the  family.  He  represents  this 
servant  as  so  habitually  faithful  and 
wise  in  discharge  of  the  duty,  that, 
had  the  master  of  the  house  come 
at  any  hour,  he  would  have  been 
ready  for  him.  He  supposes 
another  appointed  to  a  similar  ser- 
vice, who  flatters  himself  that  be- 
cause his  master  has  not  come  yet, 
he  will  not  be  likely  to  come  for  a 
long  time ;  and  so,  instead  of  dis- 
charging with  regularity  and 
promptness  the  duties  expected, 
falls  both  to  beating  his  fellow-ser- 
23* 


That  he  shall  make  him  ruler 
over  all  his  goods. 

48  But  and  if  that  evil  ser- 
vant shall  say  in  his  heart,  My 
lord  delayeth  his  coming  ; 

49  And  shall  begin  to  smite 
his  fellow  servants,  and  to  eat 
and  drink  with  the  drunken  ; 

50  The  lord  of  that  servant 
shall  come  in  a  day  when  he 
looketh  not  for  Jiim,  and  in 
an  hour  that  he  is  not  aware 
of, 

51  And  shall  cut  him  asun- 
der, and  appoint  Mm  his  por- 
tion with  the  hypocrites  s 
there  shall  be  weeping  and 
gnashing  of  teeth. 


vants  and  to  revelling  with  out- 
siders. The  former  is  rewarded; 
the  latter  is  punished. 

Meat — Food.  That  evil  servant 
— Another,  and  that  an  evil  servant. 
Smite — Beat.  Notice  the  difference 
between  his  conduct  toward  his  fel- 
low-servants, and  his  conduct 
toward  others.  Toward  the  former 
he  plays  the  tyrant ;  with  the  latter 
the  fool.  One  extreme  follows 
another.  Cut  him  asunder — See 
1  Chron.  20 :  3 ;  Heb.  11 :  37.  "A 
case  of  sawing  asunder,  by  placing 
the  criminal  between  boards,  and 
then  beginning  at  the  head,  is  men- 
tioned by  Shaw,  Trav.  p.  254." — 
Smith's  Dictionary.  Weeping  and 
gnashing — See  on  8  :  12.  With  the 
hypocrites — He  will  deserve  to  be 
put  with  them,  because  he  is  a  hypo- 
crite himself.  By  holding  his  posi- 
tion as  ruler  over  his  master's 
household,  he  professed  to  be  doing 
his  master's  will,  but  in  fact  he  was 
doing  exactly  the  opposite. 

This  entire  parable,  and  not 
merely,  as  Alford  thinks,  the  45th 
verse,  refers  especially  to  ministers ; 
and  therefore  the  following  refer- 
ences will  be  found  to  be  of  much 


270 


MATTHEW. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

THEN  shall  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  be  likened  unto  ten 
virgins,  which  took  their  lamps, 


interest :  2  Tim.  2  :   15 ;  1  Peter  5  : 
2-4. 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE  DUTY  OF  WATCHING  FOR  THE 
FINAL  COMING  FURTHER  EN- 
FORCED ;  THE  LAST  JUDGMENT. 

1.  The  object  of  the  second  par- 
able is  Tell  expressed  by  Dr.  Alex- 
ander :  "Haying  taught  them  the 
necessity"  of  vigilance  after  his  de- 
parture, he  now  shows  them  that 
the  vigilance  required  is  not  mere 
watchfulness,  but  Avatchful  prepara- 
tion." Then — At  the  time  of  Christ's 
last  coming.  Alford  and  other  pre- 
niillenarians  say  :  At  his  coming  to 
reign,  personally,  on  the  earth  a 
thousand  years.  The  kingdom  of 
heaven — Not  the  church,  but  the 
Messianic  dispensation.  It  is  not 
necessary,  therefore,  to  regard  the 
ten  virgins  as  representing  none  but 
members  of  churches.  They  stand 
for  all  who  profess  to  be  waiting  for 
the  coming  of  Christ,  whether  mem- 
bers of  churches  or  not.  We  should 
attach  no  importance  to  the  number 
ten,  though  it  was  probably  selected 
because  for  various  reasons  that 
number  had  become  familiar  to 
the  Jewish  mind.  Lamps — Either 
"torches  or  flambeaux,  consisting 
of  small  iron  or  brass  bars  inserted 
into  a  stick,  to  which  pieces  of  linen 
dipped  in  oil  were  fastened ;  "  or, 
"properly  lamps;  and  the  oil  vessels 
were  separate  from  the  lamps." 

Went  forth — Ward's  "View  of  the 
Hindoos  "  gives  the  following  almost 
perfect  illustration  of  the  Jewish 
custom  :  "At  a  marriage  the  pro- 
cession of  which  I  saw  some  years 
ago,  tne  Dridcgroom  came  from  a 
distance,  and  the  bride  lived  at  Ser- 
ampore,  to  which  place  the  bride- 


and  went  forth  to  meet  the 
bridegroom. 

2  And   five   of  them  were 
wise,  and  five  were  foolish. 

3  They  that  were  foolish  took 

groom  was  to  come  by  water.  After 
waiting  two  hours,  at  length,  near 
midnight,  it  was  announced,  as  if  in 
the  very  words  of  Scripture,  '  Be- 
hold  the  bridegroom  Cometh;  go  ye 
out  to  meet  hitn!'  All  the  persons 
employed  now  lighted  their  lamps, 
and  ran  with  them  in  their  hands  to 
fill  up  their  stations  in  the  proces- 
sion; some  of  them  had  lost  their 
lamps,  and  were  unprepared,  and  it 
was  then  too  late  to  seek  them,  and 
the  cavalcade  moved  forward  to  the 
house  of  the  bride,  at  which  piano 
the  company  entered  a  large  and 
splendidly  illuminated  area  before 
the  house,  covered  with  an  awning, 
where  a  great  multitude  of  friends, 
dressed  in  their  best  apparel,  were 
seated  upon  mats.  The  bridegroom 
was  carried  in  the  arms  of  a  friend, 
and  placed  upon  a  superb  seat  in 
the  midst  of  the  company,  where  he 
sat  a  short  time  and  then  went  into 
the  house,  the  door  of  which  was 
immediately  shut  and  guarded  by 
Sepoys.  I  and  others  expostulated 
with  the  door-keeper,  but  in  vain. 
Never  was  I  so  struck  with  our 
Lord's  beautiful  parable  as  at  this 
moment.  '  And  the  door  was  shut.' 
I  was  exceedingly  anxious  to  be 
present  while  the  marriage  formulas 
were  repeated,  but  was  obliged  to 
depart  in  disappointment."  It  is 
more  probably  the  intention  in  the 
parable  to  represent  the  virgins  as 
going  forth  to  meet  the  bridegroom, 
when  he  is  returning  with  the  bride 
to  his  own  house. 

2.  The  equality  of  number  has  no 
special  significance.  The  preacher 
not  less  than  the  interpreter  should 
abstain  from  all  unauthorized  inter- 
pretations of  this  feature  of  the 
parable,  and  of  all  those  features 
of  other   parables  which   have   no 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


271 


their  lamps,  and  took  no  oil 
with  them : 

4  But  the  wise  took  oil  in 
their  vessels  with  their  lamps. 

5  While  the  bridegroom  tar- 
ried, they  all  slumbered  and 
slept. 


bearing  on  the  main  points.  In 
this  respect  the  preacher  should  be 
a  conscientious  interpreter,  saying 
nothing  false  for  the  purpose  of 
rhetorical  effect.  Wise  .  .  .  fool- 
ish— In  heart.  It  refers  to  moral 
qualities,  not  to  intellectual. 

3,  4.  No  oil — No  supply  in  their 
vessels.  But  it  would  be  a  viola- 
tion of  the  rule  just  named  to  infer 
from  the  fact  that  the  foolish  are 
represented  as  having  some  oil  in 
the  lamp  itself  (vs.  8),  that  they 
as  well  as  the  wise  represent  Chris- 
tians. The  point  which  the  Saviour 
illustrates  is  simply  this,  that  at  his 
coming  some  who  profess  to  have 
the  forms  of  godliness  will  be  found 
to  have  nothing  more.  Oil — We 
need  not  perplex  ourselves,  as  many 
do,  with  the  question  whether  this 
means  faith,  or  good  works,  or  the 
anointing  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  If 
it  means  faith,  it  is  that  faith  which 
is  the  gift  of  God.  If  it  means  good 
works,  it  is  those  good  works  which 
are  born  of  faith.  If  it  is  the 
anointing  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  that 
comes  through  grace.  The  impor- 
tant thing  is  to  understand  it  as  imply- 
ing a  state  of  heart  which,  through 
the  merciful  power  of  God,  distin- 
guishes the  believer  from  the  unbe- 
liever. 

5.  Slumbered  and  slept — Slum- 
bering, as  here  used,  is  that  earlier 
stage  of  sleep  which  indicates  itself 
by  the  nodding  of  the  person.  It  is 
at  least  improbable  that  Jesus  in- 
tended to  teach  here  any  spiritual 
lesson.  The  foolish  are  not  called 
foolish  because  they  slept,  but  be- 
cause they  had  not  provided  them- 
selves with  a  supply  of  oil.  Nor 
are  the  wise  blamed  for  sleeping, 


6  And  at  midnight  there  was 
a  cry  made,  Behold,  the  bride- 
groom cometh ;  go  ye  out  to 
meet  him. 

7  Then  all  those  virgins 
arose,  and  trimmed  their  lamps. 

8  And  the  foolish  said  unto 


but  they  are  commended  for  doing 
exactly  that  which  the  foolish  did 
not  do.  The  representation  that 
they  were  all  asleep  is  merely  one 
of  the  little  strokes  of  the  divine 
pencil  that  are  necessary  to  aid  ia 
bringing  out  the  important  points  of 
the  picture.  Pulpit  rhetoric  rela- 
tive to  such  features  of  a  parable  is 
worse  than  out  of  place, — it  mis- 
leads. Sleeping  in  death,  as  was 
taught  by  many  of  the  ancient  in- 
terpreters, seems  equally  inadmis- 
sible. 

6.  Midnight — For  the  same 
reason  that  no  significance  should 
be  attached  to  the  sleeping,  none 
should  be  attached  to  this.  Both 
the  sleeping  and  the  midnight  may 
be  suggestive  of  important  thoughts, 
but  whether  those  thoughts  are 
contained  in  the  words  themselves 
is  another  question.  Cry — The 
final  announcement,  in  whatever 
way  made,  that  Christ  is  coming  to 
judge  the  world.  Bridegroom — 
Christ. 

7.  All  .  .  .  arose  .  .  .  trimmed 
— The  foolish  as  well  as  the  wise. 
Trimming  was  done  "by  pouring 
on  fresh  oil,  and  removing  the  fungi 
about  the  wick ;  for  the  latter  pur- 
pose a  sharp-pointed  wire  was  at- 
tached to  the  lamp,  which  is  still 
seen  in  the  bronze  lamps  found  in 
sepulchres."  But  trimming  a  lamp 
that  has  no  oil  in  it  will  do  no  good. 
Giving  a  little  more  attention  to 
externals  is  not  getting  ready  to 
meet  Christ. 

8.  Are  gone  out — Are  going  out. 
See  the  note  on  the  words  no  oil 
(vv.  3,  4).  Many  who  think  they 
are  prepared  for  the  future  life  are 
never  conscious   of  their  want  of 


272 


MATTHEW. 


the  wise,  Give  us  of  your  oil ; 
for  our  lamps  are  gone  out. 

9  But  the  wise  answered, 
saving,  Not  so;  lest  there  be 
not  enough  for  us  and  }7ou  : 
but  go  ye  rather  to  them  that 
sell,  and  buy  for  yourselves. 

10  And  while  they  went  to 
buy,  the  bridegroom  came  ;  and 
they  that  were  ready  went  in 
with  him  to  the  marriage  :  and 
the  door  was  shut. 


preparation  (oil  in  the  vessel)  till 
death  comes,  and  then  it  is  too  late 
to  get  it. 

9.  Not  so;  lest  there  be  not  enough 
— In  our  English  Bibles  not  so  is  in 
italics,  indicating  that  these  words 
were  inserted  by  the  translators  to 
help  out  the  sense.  A  different  read- 
ing, regarded  by  many  as  the  correct 
one,  would  require  the  following 
translation  :  Not  so;  there  will  not 
be  enough  for  us  and  you.  It  is  by 
no  means  certain,  however,  that  the 
common  reading  is  incorrect.  God 
has  grace  enough  for  all,  but  he 
never  gives  more  to  one  than  one 
needs  for  one's  self.  The  Roman 
Catholic  doctrine  that  a  man  can  do 
works  of  supererogation,  that  is,  can 
do  more  than  God  requires  him  to 
do,  and  that  that  can  be  passed  over 
to  the  benefit  of  the  less  deserving,  is 
therefore  false.  Them  that  sell — 
How  this  mere  thread  of  the  para- 
ble, which  is  woven  in,  it  is  proba- 
ble, like  the  others,  merely  to  aid 
in  binding  together  the  important 
parts,  may  be  stretched  even  to 
breaking,  may  be  seen  in  the  inter- 
pretation which  it  received  by  some 
of  "  The  Fathers,"  that ';  the  sellers 
of  oil  signify  the  poor,  who  receive 
the  alms  (the  oil)  of  the  faithful,  and 
sell  the  oil  in  return  for  the  relief 
afforded  to  their  wants."  Even  Al- 
ford  says :  "  The  sellers  are  the 
ordinary  dispensers  of  the  means 
of  grace  ;  a  particular  class  of  per- 
sons, —  no   mean   argument    for  a 


11  Afterward  came  also  the 
other  virgins,  saying,  Lord, 
Lord,  open  to  us. 

12  But  he  answered  and  said, 
Verily  I  say  unto  you,  I  know 
you  not. 

13  Watch  therefore  ;  for  ye 
know  neither  the  day  nor  the 
hour  wherein  the  Son  of  man 
cometh. 

14  %  For  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  as  a  man  travelling 


set  and  appointed  ministry, — and, 
moreover,  for  a  paid  ministry.  Tf 
they  sell,  they  receive  for  the  thing 
sold."  Such  a  method  of  handling 
the  parables  is  unworthy  even  of  a 
Sabbath-school  teacher. 

10,  11.  The  door  was  shut — Ex- 
cluding them,  not  as  Alford  and  oth- 
er millenarians  say,  from  the  bles- 
sedness of  "  the  first  resurrection  " 
and  the  Millennium,  but  from  heav- 
en. This  verse  answers  to  vs.  51  of 
the  preceding  chapter.  Lord,  Lord 
— Equivalent  to  our  sir,  sir,  the 
repetition  showing  their  earnestness. 
Many  will  say  to  Christ,  Lord,  Lord, 
who  will  give  no  evidence  of  al- 
legiance.    See  7  :  22. 

12.  I  know  you  not— See  7:  23.  I 
never  knew  you.  If  these  foolish 
virgins  represent  those  that  were 
shut  out,  as  Alford  says,  "  only  for 
that  time,"  that  is,  from  the  Mil- 
lennium, but  are  finally  received  to 
heaven,  it  is  difficult  to  see  why  Je- 
sus says,  I  know  you  not.  It  is  in- 
finitely better  to  be  unknown  by  men 
in  this  world  than  to  be  unknown  by 
Christ  at  the  day  of  judgment. 

13.  Watch  therefore — This  is  the 
point  of  the  parable.  While  the 
reference  is  to  the  final  coming  of 
Christ,  the  door  is  in  fact  opened  or 
shut  with  respect  to  each  individual 
at  the  moment  of  his  death.  The 
doctrine  of  the  final  coming  of 
Christ  has  too  feeble  a  hold  upo.» 
Christians  of  this  day.  Most  of 
them  seem  to  take  it  for  granted  as 


CHAPTER   XXV. 


278 


into  a  far  county,  who  called 
his  own  servants,  and  deliv- 
ered unto  them  his_goods. 

15  And  unto  one  he  gave 
five  talents,  to  another  two, 
and  to  another  one  ;  to  every 
man  according  to  his  several 
ability  ;  and  straightway  took 
his  journey. 

16  Then  he  that  had  receiv- 
ed  the  five  talents  went  and 


settled  that  Christ's  last  advent  is 
not  to  come  for  many  years, — hun- 
dreds or  thousands  of  years  per- 
haps. But  we  know  no  better  than 
the  primitive  disciples  that  it  will 
cot  come  the  next  hour.  If  we  so 
far  forget  our  Lord's  words  as  to 
commit  ourselves  either  for  or 
against  any  given  day,  we  lose  the 
spiritual  good  which  the  uncertainty 
of  the  time  is  adapted  to  bring  us. 

14.  The  third  parable  teaches  the 
duty  of  wakeful  activity  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  Lord.  Travelling  into  a 
far  country — Going  abroad,  as  in 
21  :  33.    The  kingdom  of  heaven  .  .  . 

Who  need  not  have  been  supplied. 
The  idea  is,  For  as  a  man  going 
abroad  did,  so  the  Son  of  man  does. 
Servants — Slaves.  That  goods,  or, 
as  specified  in  the  next  verse,  tal- 
ents, should  be  intrusted  to  slaves 
as  capital,  is  strictly  in  accordance 
with  ancient  custom.  "  Slaves  car- 
ried on  the  whole  business  of  the 
Athenians ;  even  the  poorer  citizens 
depended  on  them.  Many  were 
skilful  in  the  elegant  arts,  and 
versed  in  letters ;  while  others  were 
only  qualified  to  toil  in  the  mines." 
— Manual  of  Classical  Literature. 

15.  Five  talents — About  five  thou- 
sand dollars.  His  several  ability — 
His  own  ability.  According  to,  etc. 
— According  to  his  natural  capacity, 
— physical,  but  especially  mental, 
the  latter  including,  as  the  chief 
characteristics,  reasoning  power  and 
power  to  feel.  Talents — All  the 
gifts  which  God  grafts,  so  to  speak, 


traded  with  the  same,  and  made 
them  other  five  talents. 

17  And  likewise  he  that  had 
received  two,  he  also  gained 
other  two. 

18  But  he  tliat  had  received 
one  went  and  digged  in  the 
earth,  and  hid  his  lord's  money. 

19  After  a  long  time  the 
lord  of  those  servants  cometh, 
and  reckoneth  with  them. 

upon  the  natural  capacity,  as  Chris- 
tian character,  education,  that  is, 
mental  discipline,  knowledge,  prop- 
erty, reputation,  religious  and  secu- 
lar influence,  opportunities  of  use- 
fulness. Natural  cajiacity  also  may 
be  viewed  as  a  gift,  a  talent,  but  the 
divine  Teacher  here  chooses  to  con- 
sider it  rather  as  a  measure  of  gifts. 
Five,  two,  one — As  natural  capacity 
is  given  in  different  measure,  tal- 
ents are  given  in  different  number. 
Notice  as  a  striking  illustration  the 
diversity  of  the  apostles  themselves ; 
first,  in  '"ability,"  that  is,  tempera- 
ment and  mental  constitution ;  sec- 
ondly, in  "talents,"  that  is,  mental 
culture,  knowledge,  social  position, 
and  opportunities  of  usefulness. 

16.  Traded  with — "We  are  to  put 
to  use  all  the  gifts  which  God  con- 
fers upon  us.  Made  them  other  five 
talents — Better,  made,  or  gained, 
other  five.  No  stress  should  be  laid 
upon  the  fact  that  the  number  given 
was  just  doubled ;  though,  when  one 
is  able  to  say,  I  doubled  my  money, 
one  is  supposed  to  feel  that  the  in- 
crease was  large.  The  lesson  taught 
is  this,  that  we  are  to  use  God's 
gifts  so  faithfully  that  they  shall 
yield,  according  to  our  capacity,  the 
largest  possible  increase  both  to  our- 
selves and  to  our  fellow-men. 

18,  19.  Went  .  .  .  digged  .  .  .  hid 
— Here  see  proof  of  the  activity, 
strength,  and  persistency  of  his  will. 
He  was  indeed  slothful  (v.  26),  but 
only  in  doing  right.  Indolence  in 
the  Lord's  service  is  activity  in  Sa- 


274 


MATTHEW. 


20  And  so  he  that  had  re- 
ceived five  talents  came  and 
brought  other  five  talents,  say- 
ing, Lord,  thou  deliveredst  un- 
to me  five  talents :  behold,  I 
have  gained  beside  them  five 
talents  more. 

21  His  lord  said  unto  him, 
Well  done,  thou  good  and  faith- 
ful servant :  thou  hast  been 
faithful  over  a  few  things,  I 
will  make  thee  ruler  over  many 
things  :  enter  thou  into  the  joy 
of  thy  lord. 

22  He  also  that  had  received 
two  talents  came  and  said, 
Lord,  thou  deliveredst  unto  me 
two   talents :    behold,  I   have 


tan's.  His  lord's  money — He  was 
wicked  (vs.  26),  but  if,  like  some, 
he  had  claimed  the  money  as  his 
own,  he  would  have  been  still  more 
wicked.  A  long  time — This  should 
not  be  so  understood  as  to  contra- 
dict the  statement  in  vs.  13. 

20.  Thou  deliveredst  unto  me — 
Unto  me  indicates  a  sense  of  per- 
sonal responsibility  which  the  faith- 
ful servant  of  Christ  is  ever  ready 
to  acknowledge,  and  thou  indicates 
his  cheerful  acknowledgment  of  the 
fact  that  his  talents  are  the  gift  of 
God.  No  such  words  are  put  upon 
the  lips  of  the  unfaithful  servant. 

21-23.  Well  done — "An  expres- 
sion of  commendation,  often  em- 
ployed in  the  way  of  applause  by  the 
Greeks  at  their  public  games."  Few 
things  —  Little.  Many  things  — 
Much.  Witt  make  thee  ruler  over — 
"Will  set  thee  over, — will  raise  thee, 
say  the  millenarians,  to  higher  posts 
of  usefulness  and  honor  in  the  Mil- 
lennium; but  it  refers,  we  think,  to 
the  inheritance  which  will  be  given 
in  heaven.  The  joy  of  thy  Lord — 
That  blessedness  which  the  believer 
will  have  in  possessing  the  inherit- 
ance with  Christ.  Enter — The  Lord's 


gained  two  other  talents  beside 
them. 

23  His  lord  said  unto  him, 
Well  done,  good  and  faithful 
servant :  thou  hast  been  faith- 
ful over  a  few  things,  I  will 
make  thee  ruler  over  many 
things  :  enter  thou  into  the  joy 
of  thy  lord. 

24  Then  he  which  had  re- 
ceived the  one  talent  came  and 
said,  Lord,  I  knew  thee  that 
thou  art  a  hard  man,  reaping 
where  thou  hast  not  sown,  and 
gathering  where  thou  hast  not 
strewed : 

25  And  I  was  afraid,  and 
went  and  hid  thy  talent  in  the 


welcome  to  that  inheritance  which 
will  bring  joy.  Notice  that  the  same 
form  of  approval  is  used  relative  to 
him  that  received  two  talents  and  to 
him  that  received  five.  According 
to  some,  his  fidelity  is  rewai'ded, 
not  his  success.  But  his  success 
cannot  be  separated  from  his  fideli- 
ty. His  success  was  as  great  in  pro- 
portion to  his  "ability"  as  that  of 
the  other.  In  heaven,  while  the 
bliss  of  all  will  be  perfect,  there  will 
doubtless  be  substantially  the  same 
difference  of  degree,  according  to 
capacity,  as  had  been  here. 

24,  25.  A  hard  man — The  ad- 
jective is  in  such  common  use 
among  men  of  business  as  to  need 
no  explanation.  Strewed  —  Win- 
nowed. See  note  on  3  :  12.  Afraid 
— That  if  he  should  trade  with  it,  he 
should  lose  it.  The  fear  was  pre- 
tence. Weak  as  it  was,  the  excuse 
was  as  strong  as  the  excuses  that 
men  make  for  neglecting  to  improve 
the  opportunities  which  God  gives 
them.  We  incline  to  think  that  the 
hiding  caused  the  fear,  not  the  fear 
the  hiding.  Lo,  there  thou  hast  that 
is  thine  would  have  been  sufficiently 
impudent,   but   the    original  might 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


275 


earth  :  lo,  there  thou  hast  that 
is  thine. 

26  His  lord  answered  and 
said  unto  him,  Thou  wicked 
and  slothful  servant,  thou 
knewest  that  I.  reap  where  I 
sowed  not,  and  gather  where  I 
have  not  strewed  : 

27  Thou  oughtest  therefore 
to  have  put  nry  money  to  the 
exchangers,  and  then  at  my 
coming  I  should  have  received 
mine  own  with  usury. 

28  Take  therefore  the  talent 
from  him,  and  give  it  unto  him 
which  hath  ten  talents. 

29  For  unto  eveiy  one  that 
hath    shall   be    given,  and    he 


have  been  more  briefly  rendered, 
Lo,  thou  hast  thine  own.  He  had 
not  all,  for  he  had  the  right  to  what 
the  servant  could  have  made.  The 
servant  was  therefore  in  debt.  That 
God  requires  those  to  love  him  who 
were  born  with  depraved  tendencies 
and  are  in  a  world  of  temptation,  is 
no  proof  that  he  is  hard. 

26,  27.  Thou  knewest— Conced- 
ing1, for  the  moment,  that  you  are 
right  in  your  opinion,  and  that  your 
fear  of  losing  in  trade  was  well 
grounded,  then  you  could  at  least 
have  put  my  money  to  the  exchang- 
ers. Exchanger  was  "a  general 
term  for  banker  or  broker.  Of  this 
branch  of  business  we  find  traces 
very  early  both  in  the  oriental  and 
classical  literature."  Usury — Here 
used  in  the  milder  sense  of  interest. 

28-30.  Take  .  .  .  from  him— 
The  first  step  in  punishing  him. 
Men  who  do  not  improve  the  gifts 
which  God  confers  must  at  last  lose 
them.  See  on  13  :  12.  Outer  dark- 
ness.— See  on  8  :  12.  This  was  the 
second  step  in  punishing  him.  The 
man  represents  not  those  who  abuse 
the  gifts  of  God,  but  those  who  fail 
to  improve  them,  whether  they  are 


shall  have  abundance :  but 
from  him  that  hath  not  shall  be 
taken  awa}^  even  that  which 
he  hath. 

30  And  cast  ye  the  unprofit- 
able servant  into  outer  dark- 
ness :  there  shall  be  weeping 
and  gnashing  of  teeth. 

31  %  When  the  Son  of  man 
shall  come  in  his  glory,  and  all 
the  holy  angels  with  him,  then 
shall  he  sit  upon  the  throne 
of  his  glory  : 

32  And  before  him  shall  be 
gathered  all  nations :  and  he 
shall  separate  them  one  from 
another,  as  a  shepherd  divideth 
his  sheep  from  the  goats  : 


members  of  a  Christian  church  or 
not. 

31,  32.  There  can  be  no  possible 
doubt  that  the  remainder  of  the 
chapter  refers  to  the  last  judgment. 
This  is  held  even  by  the  millena- 
rians.  It  can  be  made  to  apply  to 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  only 
by  the  utmost  violence.  The  most 
awfully  solemn  portion  of  the  Bible, 
it  should  be  studied  with  the  prayer 
that  we  may  feel  that  the  truths  dis- 
closed are  of  infinite  importance 
both  to  ourselves  and  to  those  to 
whom  we  may  present  them.  When 
— This  throws  no  light  on  the  ques- 
tion, How  soon  ?  Son  of  man — See 
on  12  :  8,  second  paragraph.  It  is 
a  remarkable  fact  that  in  describing 
his  coming  to  judge  the  world,  he 
did  not  use  the  higher  designation, 
Son  of  God.  See  the  important 
words  in  John  5 :  27.  Shall  sit, 
etc.— John  5:  22;  Acts  17:  31. 
Keeping  distinctly  in  mind  that  but 
a  few  hours  after  Jesus  uttered 
these  remarkable  words,  he  was 
himself  standing  as  an  accused 
person  before  the  highest  court  of 
the  Jews  and  before  Pilate,  and  was 
separated  from  the  people  as  goats 


276 


MATTHEW. 


33  And  he  shall  set  the 
sheep  on  his  right  hand,  but 
the  goats  on  the  left. 

34  Then  shall  the  King  say 
unto  them  on  his  right  hand, 
Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father, 


were  separated  from  sheep,  we  shall 
see  that  they  show  the  most  con- 
summate conviction  of  final  victory. 
It  is  impossible  to  believe  that  such 
faith  could  have  been  exercised 
by  any  other  than  a  supernatural 
being.  On  the  general  subject,  see 
1  Thess.  4:  16,  17;  Mark  8:  38; 
Jude  14  and  15 ;  John  5 :  25-29. 
All  nations — Not,  as  Alford  thinks, 
exclusive  of  the  elect,  but  including 
them.  It  is  to  be  a  universal  judg- 
ment, including  both  Christians  and 
others ;  not,  as  millenarians  say,  a 
judgment  of  those  only  who  are  not 
saints.  All  nations  include  Gen- 
tiles as  well  as  Jews,  and  these  of 
every  age  of  the  world,  yet  not  as 
nations,  but  as  individuals.  That 
the  heathen — those  who  have  not 
had  the  Bible— will  be  judged  as 
certainly  as  others,  is  distinctly 
taught  in  Rom.  2  :  9-12. 

33.  Right  hand  .  .  .  the  left— A 
figurative  representation, based,  per- 
haps, on  the  fact  that  the  right  hand 
is  the  place  of  honor.  Sheep—  The 
righteous,  but  in  what  sense  must  be 
learned  further  on.  Goats  —  The 
wicked,  and  in  what  sense  must  also 
be  learned  further  on.  But  why 
are  the  two  classes  called  by  these 
names  ?  It  cannot  be  said  that  goats 
were  of  no  value.  "  Goats  have, 
from  the  earliest  ages,  been  consid- 
ered important  animals  in  rural 
economy,  both  on  account  of  the 
milk  they  afford,  and  the  excellence 
of  the  flesh  of  the  young  animals." 
The  hair  of  goats  was  also  useful. 
As  sheep  are  an  emblem  of  meek- 
ness (Isa.  53:  7),  and  for  that  rea- 
son stand  here  for  the  righteous,  it 
may  be  supposed  that  Jesus  applied 
the  term  goats  to  the  wicked,  be- 


inherit  the  kingdom  prepared 
for  you  from  the  foundation  of 
the  world  : 

35  P\>r  I  was  a  hungered, 
and  ye  gave  me  meat :  I  was 
thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me  drink  : 


cause  they  are  not  meek ;  and  the 
application  would  be  natural,  for 
the  goat  is  not  regarded  as  an  em- 
blem of  meekness.  The  animal  is 
rough,  daring,  independent. 

34.  The  king — Even  as  the  Son 
of  man,  Christ  is  endowed  with  roy- 
al prerogatives.  Blessed — They  had 
been  lying  under  the  curse  of  the 
law,  but  the  curse  has  been  removed. 
Inherit — This  is  one  of  the  many 
expressive  figures  by  which  is  stated 
the  relation  of  believers  to  the  bliss 
of  the  future  world.  See  the  very 
beautiful  use  which  is  made  of  the 
same  figure  by  Paul  in  Rom.  8 : 
16,  17.  See  also  Gal.  3  :  29 ;  Rev. 
21  :  7.  Kingdom  prepared  for  you 
— Therefore  they  were  predestinated 
for  the  kingdom.  Eph.  1  :  4,  5 ;  2 
Thess.  2  :  13.  The  kingdom  is  here 
used  in  its  essential  idea  as  synony- 
mous with  life  eternal  in  vs.  46. 
The  kingdom  which  is  consummated 
in  the  next  world  begins  in  this. 
Hence  men  are  represented  (Col.  1 : 
13)  as  translated  in  this  life  into  the 
kingdom  of  God.  Compare  Rom. 
14  :  17  ;  Luke  17:21;  Mark  12  :  34. 
From  the  foundation  of  the  world — 
In  Eph.  1  :  4  it  is,  Before  the  foun- 
dation. The  meaning  is  essentially 
the  same,  it  being  the  intention  in 
both  forms  to  express  the  thought 
that  the  event  occurred  before  the 
material  universe  was  created  ;  that 
is,  as  we  say,  from  eternity.  Those 
whom  Jesus  Christ  will  call  his  Fa- 
ther's blessed  ones  will  feel  that  it 
is  a  matter  of  infinitely  little  impor- 
tance that  their  names  were  or  were 
not  known  among  men.  A  word  for 
the  pious  poor, — a  kingdom  is  to 
be  yours !  The  rich  Christian  also 
should  remember  that  his  riches, 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


!77 


I  was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took 
me  in : 

36    Naked,  and  ye  clothed 
mo  :  I  was  sick,  and  ye  visited 


compared  with  the  kingdom  which 
he  is  to  inherit,  are  lighter  than  the 
dust  of  the  balance. 

35, 36.  For — Our  Lord  represents 
himself  as  giving  to  the  righteous 
the  reason  why  they  are  welcomed 
to  heaven.  He  who  regards  the 
reason  as  merely  this,  that  the  per- 
sons in  question  had  practised  kind- 
ness to  the  poor  and  the  sick,  and 
that  therefore  the  reason  is  wholly 
in  themselves,  misses  the  meaning. 
That  this  cannot  be  the  import  of 
the  Saviour's  words  is  evident:  1. 
Other  parts  of  the  Bible  teach  that 
Christian  character  consists  of  many 
qualities.  But  here  only  one  quality 
is  named, — kindness  to  the  suffer- 
ing. Therefore  this  quality  must 
here  be  put  for  all  the  qualities.  He, 
therefore,  who  thinks  he  is  an  heir 
of  the  kingdom  because  he  is  kind  to 
the  suffering,  should  inquire  wheth- 
er his  kindness  is  of  that  holy  and 
comprehensive  sort  that  implies  the 
possession  of  all  other  qualities  of 
Christian  character;  or  whether  it 
is  that  narrow  and  not  necessarily 
holy  quality  which  many  mistake 
for  that  of  which  Jesus  here  speaks. 
2.  Christ  represents  even  this  com- 
prehensive virtue  as  having  direct 
reference  to  himself:  Ye  gave  me 
meat;  ye  clothed  me.  See  vs.  40, 
where  he  affirms  that  inasmuch  as 
they  have  done  it  to  one  of  the  least 
of  his  brethren,  they  have  done  it  to 
himself.  The  supposition  that  these 
acts  of  kindness  had  been  done 
witbout  the  intention  to  do  them 
to  Christ,  and  that  therefore  the 
righteous  were  welcomed  only  on  ac- 
count of  their  personal  excellences, 
is  inadmissible.  For  the  righteous  are 
represented  as  showing  kindness  to 
Christ's  brethren.  The  implication 
is  that  the  kindness  was  shown  he- 
cause  they  were  his  brethren,  which 
24 


me  :  I  was  in  prison,  and  ye 
came  unto  me. 

37  Then  shall  the  righteous 
answer     him,    sajdng,     Lord, 

implies  that  they  did  it  in  love  to 
Christ  himself;  and  this  implies  that 
they  had  faith  in  Christ.  See  the 
important  words,  in  the  name  of  a 
disciple  (10:  42),  and  the  note.  3. 
It  is  elsewhere  taught,  even  in  Mat- 
thew— the  narrative  which  presents 
the  gospel  more  as  the  fulfilment  of 
the  law  than  either  of  the  others — 
that  we  are  saved  not  by  our  per- 
sonal virtues  as  such,  but  by  Christ. 
1:21;  9  :  6 ;  11  :  28-40.  In  Mark 
and  John  faith  in  Christ  is  clearly 
taught  as  indispensable  to  salvation. 
He  that  believeth  shall  be  saved. 
Mark  16  :  16.  He  that  believeth  on 
him  is  not  condemned.  John  3  :  18. 
This  is  the  work  of  God,  that  ye  be- 
lieve on  him  whom  he  hath  sent. 
John  6  :  29. 

Our  Lord,  then,  does  not  intend 
to  teach  that  the  righteous  have  in 
any  true  sense  purchased  their  heav- 
enly inheritance  by  works  of  merit. 
No  helmsman  undertakes  to  steer 
by  the  light  on  his  own  ship. 

Took  me  in — To  your  house  and 
heart.  Taking  the  hungry  man  into 
one's  house,  and  not  at  the  same 
time  into  one's  heart,  is  not  a  virtue  : 
how  much  less  is  it  piety !  Many  a 
man  takes  Christ  into  his  creed,  and 
commits  the  fatal  mistake  of  suppos- 
ing that  therefore  he  has  taken  him 
into  his  heart.  Visited  me — The 
original  word  is  very  expressive  : 
To  look  upon,  to  look  after.  Dr.  Co- 
nant  quotes  the  following  from  an 
ancient  writer  :  "  I  should  seem  to 
be  like  the  physician  going  round 
visiting  the  sick."  Christ  means, 
then,  not  merely  calling  upon  the 
sick,  but  calling  for  the  purpose  of 
doing  something  for  their  relief.  In 
prison,  and  ye  came — All  that  may 
be  safely  done  for  the  physical,  in- 
tellectual, and  religious  improve- 
ment even  of  criminals  in  prison 


278 


MATTHEW. 


when  saw  we  thee  a  hungered, 
and  fed  thee  9  or  thirsty,  and 
gave  thee  drink? 

38  When  saw  we  thee  a 
stranger,  and  took  thee  in  ?  or 
naked,  and  clothed  thee? 

39  Or  when  saw  we  thee 
sick,  or  in  prison,  and  came 
unto  thee  ? 

40  And  the  King  shall  an- 
swer and  say  unto  them,  Veri- 
ly I  say  unto  }Tou,  Inasmuch 
as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of 
the  least  of  these  my  brethren, 
ye  have  done  it  unto  me. 


here  finds  its  justification.  Some 
of  the  apostles  were  thrown  into 
prison  for  preaching  Christ,  and 
many  who  boasted  of  their  charities 
never  visited  them. 

37-39.  When  saw  we  thee — We 
must  not  suppose  that  any  such  re- 
ply will  be  made  by  the  righteous. 
It  is  the  divine  Teacher's  graphic 
method  of  representing  the  state  of 
mind  in  which  the  righteous  will  be, 
— a  state  of  such  profound  humility 
that  they  can  scarcely  see  that  they 
ever  did  anything  of  the  kind.  It  is 
remarkable  that  Alford,  who  insists 
so  strongly  in  his  interpretation  of 
many  of  the  sayings  in  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount  that  we  should  not  be 
slaves  to  the  letter,  but  should  en- 
deavor to  grasp  the  spirit  of  our 
Lord's  words, — it  is  strange  that  he 
and  some  others  should  understand 
the  righteous  as  here  denying  all 
knowledge  of  Christ  himself,  and  as 
being,  therefore,  virtuous  heathen 
that  never  knew  Christ. 

40.  My  brethren — Disciples.  See 
the  beautiful  words  in  12  :  49,  50. 
With  what  moral  dignity  does  Christ 
invest  the  simplest  act  of  love  done 
to  the  least  of  his  disciples ! 

41.  Everlasting  fire — This  should 
be  preceded,  as  the  original  is,  by 
the  article, — the  everlasting  fire. 
Tire  is  doubtless  a  figurative  word 


41  Then  shall  he  say  also 
unto  them  on  the  left  hand, 
Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  in- 
to everlasting  fire,  prepared  for 
the  devil  and  his  angels : 

42  For  I  was  a  hungered, 
and  ye  gave  me  no  meat :  I  was 
thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me  no 
drink  : 

43  I  was  a  stranger,  and  ye 
took  me  not  in  :  naked,  and  ye 
clothed  me  not :  sick,  and  in 
prison,  and  ye  visited  me  not. 

44  Then  shall  they  also  an- 
swer him,  saying,  Lord,  when 


to  express  intense  punishment.  Con- 
cerning the  general  subject  of  future 
punishment,  see  note  on  vs.  46.  Too 
much  stress  has  sometimes  been 
laid  on  the  omission  of  the  words  of 
my  Father  after  cursed.  The  pun- 
ishment is  to  be  inflicted  by  the  Fa- 
ther, yet  the  omission  may  be  de- 
signed to  bring  into  greater  promi- 
nence the  self-inflicting  power  of 
sin.  Perhaps  more  weight  should 
be  attached  to  the  fact  that  the  ever- 
lasting fire  is  not  said  to  have  been 
prepared  for  them,  but  for  the  devil 
and  his  angels.  Respecting  the 
devil  see  note  on  4 :  1,  last  para- 
graph. As  to  the  angels  of  the  devil, 
see  12  :  24,  where  the  devil,  Beel- 
zebub, is  called  the  prince  of  the 
devils,  of  the  demons.  Demons, 
therefore,  seem  to  be  identical  with 
the  angels  of  the  devil.  Demons 
are  called  angels  in  the  general 
sense  of  messengers  to  do  the  will 
of  him  who  is  their  prince. 

42,  43.  Gave  me  no  meat  .  .  .  no 
drink,  etc. — It  is  worthy  of  special 
notice  that  positive  sins  are  not  al- 
leged. If  men  are  to  be  sentenced 
into  the  everlasting  fire  for  sins  of 
omission,  as  they  may  be  called,  how 
can  those  escape  who  are  guilty  of 
positive  sin?  A  life  of  inactivity 
in  the  Master's  cause  is  a  damnable 
sin. 


CHAPTER   XXV. 


279 


saw  we  thee  a  hungered,  or 
athirst,or  a  stranger,  or  naked, 
or  sick,  or  in  prison,  and  did 
not  minister  unto  thee? 

45  Then  shall  he  answer 
them,  saying,  Verily  I  say  unto 
you,  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  not 


44.  Those  who  have  done  some 
good  will  yet  feel  that  they  have 
done  so  little  that  it  amounts  to 
nothing;  but  those  that  have  done 
none  will  feel  that  they  have  done  so 
much  as  to  constitute  a  claim  on  the 
favor  of  the  Judge. 

46.  This  verse  is  one  of  great  im- 
portance in  its  hearing  upon  ques- 
tions pertaining  to  the  destiny  of 
men.  Each  of  the  three  prominent 
words,  punishment,  life,  and  ever- 
lasting or  eternal,  has  received  ex- 
tended examination.  Universalists 
have  striven  hard  to  explain  them 
in  consistency  with  the  theory  that 
all  men  will  be  saved,  Restora- 
tionfsts  in  consistency  with  the  the- 
ory that  the  wicked  will  be  restored, 
and  Annihilationists  in  consistency 
with  the  theory  that  the  wicked 
will  be  put  wholly  out  of  existence. 
We  can  indicate  only  the  results  to 
which  most  Christian  scholars  have 
been  led.  An  able  and  exhaustive 
work  upon  the  general  subject, 
under  the  title,  "Life  and  Death 
Eternal,"  has  been  written  by  Prof. 
Samuel  C.  Bartlett,  D.D.,  of  Chi- 
cago Theological  Seminary.  "The 
State  of  the  Impenitent  Dead"  is  the 
title  of  a  valuable  work  on  one  branch 
of  the  subject,  by  President  Alvah 
Hovey,  D.D.,  of  Newton  Theologi- 
cal Institution.  Both  these  works 
are  commended  to  any  who  may  need 
additional  light.  We  are  indebted  to 
the  former  work  for  much  that  fol- 
lows. It  will  be  convenient  to  con- 
sider the  term  death  in  connection 
with  the  word  life,  though  only  its 
substantial  equivalent,  punishment, 
is  found  in  the  verse  before  us. 

I.  Death,  life — 1.  Death  does  not 
literally  mean   cessation   of  exist- 


to  one  of  the  least  of  these,  ye 
did  it  not  to  me. 

46  And  these  shall  go  away 
into  everlasting  punishment : 
but  the  righteous  into  life  eter- 
nal. 


ence ;  nor  is  life,  in  its  lower  sense, 
simply  synonymous  with  existence. 
2.  These  words  have  a  higher  sense 
by  which  the  one  (life)  denotes  a 
state  of  true  welfare ;  and  the  other 
the  reverse.  3.  In  common  Scrip- 
ture use,  life  is  a  state  of  intimate 
union  with  God,  through  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  John  17:  3.  This 
state  begins  in  this  world  (John  5 : 
24;  11 :  26),  but  it  is  completed  in 
the  next.  The  Scriptures  never 
represent  life  as  mere  happiness. 
Life  is  holiness  and  consequent  fe- 
licity. Death  is  that  separation  from 
God  in  which  all  the  higher  facul- 
ties of  human  nature  are  working 
falsely  and  discordantly.  It  implies 
unhappiness.  It  is  the  extinction, 
not  of  the  soul, but  of  the  soul's  well- 
being.  4.  We  can  find  no  trace  of 
any  denial  by  the  Jews  in  the  time 
of  Christ,  of  future  punishment,  ex- 
cept on  the  part  of  those  who  denied 
all  future  existence  (the  Sadducees). 

5.  Wicked  men  (vs.  41)  are  to  be- 
come companions  of  devils.  But 
there  is  no  evidence  that  devils  are 
to  be  either  restored  or  annihilated. 
They  (Jude  6)  are  reserved  in  ever- 
lasting chains  under  darkness  unto 
the  judgment  of  the  great  day.  They 
shall  be  tormented  (Rev.  20:  10) 
day   and    night   forever   and   ever. 

6.  Punishment. — In  vs.  41  this  i3 
called  fi re.  It  is  conscious  suffering. 
Annihilation  is  not  conscious  suffer- 
ing. Annihilationists  have  affirmed 
that  the  original  for  punishment  is 
derived  from  a  word  which  means  to 
cut  off,  to  extinguish,  that  is,  to  an* 
nihilate.  But  the  word  has  no  such 
meaning  anywhere  in  the  Greek 
language  as  annihilation.  If  it  is 
proper  to  call  annihilation  punish- 


280 


MATTHEW. 


A 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

ND  it  came  to  pass,  when 
Jesus  had  finished  'all  these 


merit,  which  may  be  justly  doubted, 
it  is  a  punishment  which  has  no  du- 
ration beyond  the  instant  of  inflic- 
tion. 

II.  Everlasting  .  .  .  eternal — 
Both  words  are  alike  in  the  origi- 
nal, and  should  have  been  rendered 
alike.  I.  If  the  punishment  of  the 
wicked  is  to  cease,  no  logic  can 
prove  that  the  life  of  the  righteous 
is  not  also  to  cease.  Common  sense 
teaches  that  no  other  than  the  usual 
interpretation  is  possible.  2.  As 
further  evidence  that  the  punish- 
ment is  never  to  cease,  consider  that 
the  sin  against  the  Holy  Spirit  shall 
not  be  forgiven,  neither  in  this 
world,  neither  in  the  world  to  come 
(12 :  32)  ;  that  the  chaff  is  to  be 
burnt  up  with  unquenchable  fire  (3  : 
12)  ;  that  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  are 
set  forth  for  an  example,  suffering 
the  vengeance  of  eternal  fire  ( Jude 
7) ;  that  the  beast  and  the  false 
prophet  (Rev.  20  :  10)  are  to  be  tor- 
mented day  and  night  forever.  3.  If 
the  word  here  rendered  everlasting 
does  not  here  mean  continuing  with- 
out end,  the  Greek  language,  with 
all  its  wonderful,  powers,  had  no 
word  by  which  it  was  possible  to  ex- 
press the  idea.  4.  If  the  Greek 
language  had  none,  the  English  has 
none ;  forever  being  as  incapable  of 
expressing  the  idea  of  endless  dura- 
tion as  the  Greek  word.  It  is  ad- 
mitted that  the  Greek  word  is  some- 
times applied  with  latitude  to  hills, 
etc.,  "everlasting  hills;"  but  this 
no  more  disproves  that  the  real 
meaning  of  the  word  is  endless  du- 
ration, than  the  occasional  use  of 
the  English  word  forever  in  a  lim- 
ited sense  proves  that  that  does  not 
denote  endless  duration. 

The  sentiments  of  this  most  sol- 
emn chapter  should  be  more  fre- 
quently and  earnestly  pressed  upon 


sayings,  he  said  unto  his  dis- 
ciples, 

2  Ye  know  that   after   two 
da}<  s  is  the  feast  of  the  pass- 


men. They  are  a  powerful  means 
of  arresting  the  attention  of  the  im- 
penitent and  of  strengthening  the 
Christian's  sensibility  respecting 
spiritual  things.  No  man  can  prove 
future  endless  punishment  to  be 
contrary  to  reason,  but  its  reasona- 
bleness can  be  but  dimly  seen  by 
men  without  the  Scriptures.  Jesus 
Christ  teaches  that  the  wicked  shall 
go  away  into  everlasting  punish- 
ment. We  can  reject  the  teachings 
of  Christ,  if  we  will,  and  decide  the 
question  by  what  may  seem  to  be 
reason,  but  what  in  truth  is  not  rea- 
son ;  but  in  doing  so  we  are  guilty 
of  great  assumption,  and  incur  fear- 
ful risk. 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

the  institution  of  the  supper; 
the  lord's  passion  ;  peter's  de- 
nial. 

183  TJ.C.    Tuesday  Evening,  April 
4,  -V.I).  30. 

1.  All  these  sayings — Those  which 
Matthew  has  reported  in  the  two  pre- 
ceding chapters.  These  "  finished  " 
our  Lord's  public  instructions, 
but,  according  to  John  (chs.  14-17), 
he  communicated  many  very  pre- 
cious thoughts  to  the  apostles  after 
this.  While  teaching  publicly,  he 
suffered  privately  ;  his  teaching  will 
henceforth  be  private,  his  sufferings 
public. 

2.  After  two  days—It  is  supposed 
to  be  still  Tuesday  evening,  though 
some  think  the  words  were  uttered  on 
Wednesday.  Not  reckoning  the  day 
on  which  they  were  spoken,  and  as- 
suming that  Thursday  was  the  14th 
of  Nisan  (April  6),  the  day  to  which 
Jesus  referred  was  Thursday. 

Passover — The   root  of  the  He- 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 


281 


over,  and  the   Son  of  man  is 
betrayed  to  be  crucified. 


brew  word  means  to  leap  over. 
"But  since,  when  we  jump  or  step 
over  anything,  we  do  not  tread  upon 
it,  the  word  has  a  secondary  mean- 
ing, 'to  spare,'  or  to  show  mercy." 
The  English  word  well  expresses 
the  meaning.  See  the  account  of 
the  institution  of  this  first  of  the 
three  great  annual  Jewish  festivals 
in  Ex.  12.  It  commemorated  the 
"sparing"  of  the  first-born  of  the 
children  of  Israel  when  the  destroy- 
ing angel  smote  the  first-born  of  the 
Egyptians.  "On  the  tenth  day 
of  the  month  Abib l  the  head  of 
each  family  was  to  select  from  the 
flock  either  a  lamb  or  a  kid,  a  male 
of  the  first  year,  without  blemish. 
If  his  family  was  too  small  to  eat 
the  whole  of  the  lamb,  he  was  per- 
mitted to  invite  his  nearest  neigh- 
bor to  join  the  party.  On  the  four- 
teenth day  of  the  month,  he  was  to 
kill  his  lamb  while  the  sun  was  set- 
ting. He  was  then  to  take  the  blood 
in  a  basin,  and  with  a  sprig  of  hyssop 
to  sprinkle  it  on  the  two  side-posts 
and  the  lintel  of  the  door  of  the 
house.  The  lamb  was  then  thor- 
oughly roasted,  whole.  It  was  ex- 
pressly forbidden  that  it  should  be 
boiled,  or  that  a  bone  of  it  should  be 
broken.  Unleavened  bread  and  bit- 
ter herbs  were  to  be  eaten  with  the 
flesh.  No  male  who  was  uncircum- 
cisecl  was  to  join  the  company.  Each 
one  was  to  have  his  loins  girt,  to 
hold  a  staff  in  his  hand,  and  to  have 
shoes  on  his  feet.     He  was  to  eat 

1  Abib  was  the  earlier  name  of  the 
month  ;  Xisan  the  later.  The  opinion  of 
the  Talmudists  that  the  word  Xisan  is  of 
Babylonian  origin  is  not  now  accepted.  Jt 
is  held  that  it  was  "  probably  borrowed 
from  the  Syrians,"  for  the  Syrian  calen- 
dar has  names  of  months  "  answering  " 
to  nearly  all  the  later  names  of  the  He- 
brew months.  The  later  Jews  had  not 
two  years,  the  sacred  and  the  civil,  but 
44  two  commencements  of  the  year,"  with 
six  months  between  them.  The  sacred 
commencement,  or  "reckoning"  began 
with  Abib  or  Nisan,  at  the  time  of  the  ex- 
odus from  Egypt. 

24* 


3  Then  assembled  together 
the     chief    priests,    and     the 


in  haste,  and  it  would  seem  that  he 
was  to  stand  during  the  meal.  The 
number  of  the  party  was  to  be  calcu-" 
lated  as  nearly  as  possible,  so  that 
all  the  flesh  of  the  lamb  might  be 
eaten ;  but  if  any  portion  of  it  hap- 
pened to  remain,  it  was  to  be  burned 
in  the  morning.  No  morsel  of  it 
was  to  be  carried  out  of  the  house." 
Afterward,  the  lamb  was  required 
to  be  slain  in  the  "national  sanctu- 
ary," and  the  blood  to  be  sprinkled 
on  the  altar.  On  the  14th  of  the 
month  all  leaven  was  put  away 
from  the  houses.  The  festival  con- 
tinued seven  days.  The  15th  and 
the  21st  of  the  month  were  regarded 
as  days  oi  holy  convocation.  Ac- 
cording to  uninspired  Jewish  au- 
thority, when  the  lamb  was  to  be 
roasted,  a  spit  made  of  the  wood  of 
the  pomegranate  was  thrust  length- 
wise through  the  lamb.  Another 
spit  was  put  transversely  through 
the  animal.  This  fact  has  been  re- 
garded by  many  preachers  and  some 
commentators  as  symbolical  of  the 
crucifixion  of  Jesus.  But  no  such 
prominence  should  be  given  to  the 
fact ;  for  there  is  no  proof  that  the 
Jews  of  earlier  times  used  the  cross- 
spit.  The  custom  of  using  it  is  af- 
firmed by  Justin  Martyr  ;  but  he  was 
not  born  till  ages  after  the  institu- 
tion of  the  Passover.  "The  modern 
Samaritans  roast  their  paschal  lambs 
in  nearly  the  same  manner  at  this 
day,"  and  Mr.  George  Grove,  in  a 
letter  to  Rev.  Samuel  Clark,  the 
writer  of  the  article  on  the  Pass- 
over in  Smith's  Dictionary,  says : 
"Each  lamb  has  a  stake  or  spit  run 
through  him  to  draw  him  up  by; 
and  to  prevent  the  spit  from  tearing 
away  through  the  roast  meat  with 
the  weight,  a  cross-piece  is  put 
through  the  lower  end.  of  it."  It 
would  seem  more  probable,  there- 
fore, as  Mr.  Clark  remarks,  that 
the  transverse  spit  was  a  mere  mat- 
ter  of  convenience,  and  was   per- 


282 


MATTHEW. 


scribes,  and  the  elders  of  the 
people,  unto  the  palace  of  the 
high  priest,  who  was  called 
Caiaphas, 


haps  never  in  use  among  the  Jews. 
"There  is  no  mention  of  wine  in 
connection  with  the  Passover  in  the 
Pentateuch,  but  the  Mishna  strictly 
enjoins  that  there  should  never  be 
less  than  four  cups  of  it  provided  at 
the  paschal  meal  even  of  the  poor- 
est Israelite.  ...  It  was  mixed 
with  water  as  it  was  drunk." 

"The  service  of  praise  sung  at 
the  Passover  is  not  mentioned  in 
the  law.  The  name"  [Hallel]  "is 
contracted  from  Hallelujah.  It 
consisted  of  the  series  of  Psalms 
from  113  to  118.  The  first  portion, 
comprising  113  and  114,  was  sung 
in  the  early  part  of  the  meal,  and 
the  second  part  after  the  fourth  cup 
of  wine.  This  is  supposed  to  be 
the  hymn  sung  by  our  Lord  and  his 
apostles  (Matt.  2:  30;  Mark  14: 
26)." 

3.  Then — This  can  scarcely  be 
regarded  as  determining  the  exact 
time.  The  Sanhedrim,  which  is  the 
body  here  meant,  may  have  assem- 
bled that  evening  (Tuesday),  or 
the  meeting  may  not  have  been  held 
till  Wednesday.  Palace  of  the  high 
priest — The  Sanhedrim  had  been 
accustomed  to  meet  in  a  hall  on  the 
southern  side  of  the  temple.  It  is 
supposed  by  some  that  they  had 
ceased  to  occupy  it.  It  is  not  nec- 
essary to  suppose  that  this  was  an 
illegal  meeting,  because  held  at  the 
residence  of  the  high  priest.  By 
palace  is  here  meant  the  open 
court  around  which,  according  to 
custom,  the  house  was  built.  See 
vs.  69  :  Now  Peter  sat  without  in 
the  palace ;  that  is,  without  in  the 
court.  See  also  Luke  22  :  55  :  And 
when  they  had  kindled  a  fire  in  the 
midst  of  the  hall ;  that  is,  in  the 
midst  of  the  court.  The  high 
priest — The  high  priest  differed  from 
priests  in  the  following  particulars  : 
He  was  anointed  with  the  "  precious 


4  And  consulted  that  they 
might  take  Jesus  by  subtilty, 
and  kill  him. 

5  But  they  said,  Not  on  the 


ointment ; "  in  addition  to  articles 
of  apparel  which  he  wore  in  com- 
mon with  the  priests,  he  wore  the 
breast-plate,  the  ephod,  the  robe  of 
the  ephod,  and  the  mitre ;  his  du- 
ties were  different,  the  most  solemn 
of  which  was  entering  the  Holy  of 
Holies  once  a  year,  on  the  great  day 
of  atonement,  and  sprinkling  the 
blood  of  the  sin-offering  on  the  mer- 
cy-seat, and  burning  incense  within 
the  vail.  According  to  Josephus, 
there  had  been  from  Aaron  eighty- 
three  high  priests.  The  name  of 
the  last  was  Phannias,  of  whom  Jo- 
sephus says  that  he  was  such  a 
mere  rustic  he  scarcely  knew  what 
the  high  priesthood  meant.  The  du- 
ties of  the  priests  were  numerous, 
the  most  important  of  which  was  the 
offering  of  the  morning  and  the  even- 
ing sacrifice.  In  some  periods  of 
Jewish  history,  the  priests  were  sunk 
in  the  lowest  immorality.  In  this 
connection  it  may  be  added,  in  the 
words  of  Rev.  Edward  Hayes  Plump- 
tre,  A.M.,  Chaplain  to  the  Bishop 
of  Norwich,  England  :  "It  was 
the  thought  of  a  succeeding  age" 
[succeeding  the  apostolic,  and, 
therefore,  without  apostolic  author- 
ity], "  that  the  old  classification  of 
the  high  priest,  priests,  and  Levites, 
was  reproduced  in  the  bishops, 
priests,  and  deacons,  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church."  Caiaphas — He  was 
the  last  high  priest  but  fourteen. 

4.  Consulted — Consulted  togeth- 
er. By  subtilty — By  craft.  Take 
— Implying  force.  They  had  tried 
to  catch  him  by  means  of  his  words  ; 
now  they  purpose  to  take  him  by 
hand-power.  These  leaders  of  pub- 
lic sentiment  care  nothing  for  the 
common  rights  of  conscience,  and 
are  as  ignorant  of  the  true  spirit  of 
the  old  covenant,  as  the  most  igno- 
rant of  the  people. 

5.  Not  on  the  feast-day — Not  at 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


283 


feast  day,  lest  there  be  an  up- 
roar among  the  people. 

6  ^[  Now  when  Jesus  was  in 
Bethany,  in  the  house  of  Simon 
the  leper, 

any  time  during  the  festival.  The 
city  was  full  of  people,  and  many  of 
them  were  so  much  interested 
in  him,  that  an  arrest,  at  that  time, 
would  be  very  likely  to  create  an 
uproar,  tumult.  Planning  not  to 
do,  is  as  easily  frustrated  by  God 
as  planning  to  do.  The  Pharisees 
may  work  freely,  but  they  must 
work.  The  wicked  cannot  always 
stay  the  hatching  of  their  own  plans. 

6.  This  anointing  is  reported  by 
John  (12  :  1)  as  occurring  six  days 
before  the  Passover.  Some  think 
that  John's  narrative  anticipates  it. 
We  prefer,  with  others,  to  regard 
Matthew  and  Mark  as  reporting  it 
later  than  the  true  time.  There  is 
really  nothing  in  Matthew  and  Mark 
which  proves  these  evangelists  to 
have  intended  to  say  that  it  oc- 
curred only  two  days  before.  They 
seem  to  throw  the  narrative  in,  as 
Andrews  has  expressed  it,  "paren- 
thetically." Simon  had  been  a  lep- 
er; he  was  not  one  then. 

7.  The  incident  which  follows  is 
a  beautiful  illustration  of  the  faith 
that  works  by  love.  The  woman 
was  Mary,  the  sister  of  Martini. 
John  12  :  2,  3.  Lazarus,  as  well  as 
the  sisters,  was  present.  Alabas- 
ter-— "The  oriental  alabaster  which 
is  so  much  valued  on  account  of  its 
translucency,  and  for  its  variety  of 
colored  streakings,  red,  yellow, 
grey,  etc.,  .  .  .  is  a  fibrous  carbon- 
ate of  lime."  This  has  been  "  long 
used  for  various  ornamental  purpos- 
es, such  as  the  fabrication  of  vases, 
boxes,  etc.  The  ancients  consid- 
ered alabaster  (carbonate  of  lime) 
to  be  the  best  material  in  which 
to  preserve  their  ointments.  .  .  . 
Pliny  tells  us  that  the  usual  form  of 
these  alabaster  vessels  was  long  and 
slender  at  the  top,  and  round  and 


7  There  came  unto  him  a 
woman  having  an  alabaster 
box  of  very  precious  ointment, 
and  poured  it  on  his  head  as  he 
sat  at  meat. 


full  at  the  bottom.  He  likens  them 
to  the  long  pearls,  called  elcnchi, 
which  the  Roman  ladies  suspended 
from  their  fingers  or  dangled  from 
their  ears."  Alabasters  "may  have 
been  made,  however,  of  any  materi- 
al suitable  for  keeping  ointment  in, 
glass,  silver,  gold,  etc.,"  as  the 
"  term  which  originally  was  limited 
to  boxes  made  of  the  box-wood, 
eventually  extended  to  boxes  gener- 
ally ;  as  we  say,  an  iron  box,  a  gold 
box,  etc."  Ointment — In  Mark  (1.4  : 
3)  ointment  of  spikenard.  "  We 
are  much  indebted  to  the  late  la- 
mented Dr.  Royle,  for  helping  clear 
up  doubts  that  had  long  existed  as 
to  what  particular  plant  furnished 
the  aromatic  substance  known  as 
'  spikenard.' "  Dr.  Royle  obtained 
and  planted  in  the  East  India  Com- 
pany's botanic  garden,  about  thirty 
miles  from  the  foot  of  the  Himalay- 
an Mountains,  certain  roots  of  the 
jatamansee,  which  was  ' '  annually 
brought  from  the  mountains  over- 
hanging the  Ganges  and  the  Jumna 
rivers  down  to  the  plains."  Upon 
growing,  it  proved  to  be  identical 
with  a  plant  called  by  the  Arabs 
Sunbul  ("spica"),  and  this  name 
was  used  by  Arabian  authors  as  the 
equivalent  of  nard.  It  is  described 
by  ail  ancient  writer  as  "  having 
many  shaggy  spikes  growing  from 
one  root,"  and  as  being  found  near 
the  neighborhood  of  the  Ganges. 
Very  precious — It  was  worth,  the  di- 
ciples  thought  (Mark  14:  5),  more 
than  three  hundred  pence  (about  for- 
ty-five dollars) ;  and  there  is  evi- 
!  dence  from  an  ancient  writer  that 
|  their  estimate  was  not  too  high.  John 
I  (12  :  3)  says  there  was  a  pound  of  it. 
Poured  it  on  his  head — How  much 
!  was  Mary  indebted  to  Jesus  !  Her 
I  brother  Lazarus  had  been  restored 


284 


MATTHEW. 


8  But  when  his  disciples  saw 
it,  they  had  indignation,  say- 
ing,  To  what  purpose  is  this 
waste  ? 

9  For  this  ointment  might 
have  been  sold  for  much,  and 
given  to  the  poor. 

10  When  Jesus  understood 
it,  he  said  unto  them,  Why 
trouble  ye  the  woman  ?  for  she 
hath  wrought  a  good  work  up- 
on me. 

11  For  ye  have  the  poor  al- 
ways with  you  ;  but  me  ye  have 
not  always. 

12  For   in   that   she    hath 

to  life,  and  she  herself  had  been  led 
into  a  deep  knowledge  of  spiritual 
things  by  the  Lord's  instructions. 
Simon,  who  may  have  been  cured 
of  the  leprosy  by  Jesus,  must  have 
deeply  sympathized,  and  Martha 
and  Lazarus  also,  in  Mary's  act. 
It  may  have  been  done  as  an  ex- 
pression of  their  love  also.  Sat  at 
meat — Reclined. 

8,  9.  Judas  (John  12:  4-6)  was 
the  leader  in  showing  this  evil  spirit. 
As  manifested  by  him  it  was  charac- 
teristic ;  as  shown  by  the  others,  it 
was  incidental.  In  him  it  was  hy- 
pocrisy ;  in  them  it  was  weakness. 
All  the  money  given  for  the  Chris- 
tian cause  at  home  and  abroad  is 
wasted,  say  some ;  money  given  in 
support  of  foreign  missions  is  wasted, 
say  others.  But  those  who  shut  the 
door  of  their  hearts  in  the  face  of 
God's  poor  in  heathen  lands,  do  not 
open  it  very  widely  for  his  poor  at 
home. 

10,  11.  When  Jesus  understood 
it—  Conveys  an  erroneous  impres- 
sion. It  should  be,  And  Jesus 
knowing  it.  Why  trouble,  etc. — How 
lovingly  he  shields  her !  A  good 
u-or\ — Not  that  he  needed  it,  but  he 
welcomed  it  as  an  expression  of  her 
piety.  Christ  is  not  in  any  inherent, 
essential  need  of  the  money  of  his 


poured   this  ointment  on   my 
body,  she  did  it  for  nry  burial. 

13  Verily  I  say  unto  you, 
Wheresoever  this  gospel  shall 
be  preached  in  the  whole  world, 
there  shall  also  this,  that  this 
woman  hath  done,  be  told  for 
a  memorial  of  her. 

14  ^f  Then  one  of  the  twelve, 
called  Judas  Iscariot,  went  un- 
to the  chief  priests, 

15  And  saith  unto  them, 
What  will  ye  give  me,  and  I 
will  deliver  him  unto  you? 
And  they  covenanted  with  him 
for  thirty  pieces  of  silver. 


people.  He  can  accomplish  the  con- 
version of  the  world  without  it,  but 
he  welcomes  their  gifts  as  expres- 
sions of  their  love. 

12.  Did  it  for  my  burial — Not 
for  his  burial,  but  to  prepare  him 
for  his  burial.  It  was  the  custom 
of  the  Jews  to  prepare  the  dead 
body  for  burial  by  anointing  it,  or 
putting  spices  in  the  folds  of  the 
grave-clothes,  or  of  the  bandages 
with  which  the  clothes  were  fas- 
tened. Does  Jesus  mean  to  say 
that  Mary  did  this  intentionally, 
consciously,  with  reference  to  his 
burial?  It  is  difficult  to  decide 
whether  that  was  his  meaning  or 
not.  He  may  have  meant  only  this, 
that  her  act  admitted  that  interpre- 
tation by  himself. 

13.  How  literally  is  this  prophe- 
cy continually  fulfilling !  A  memo- 
rial— How  much  that  little  alabaster 
vase  has  done  to  perpetuate  the  fra- 
grance of  Mary's  name  !  Judas' 
name  will  live  as  long  as  Mary's, 
but  how  different  the  ground  of  his 
fame !  Fame,  however,  was  not  a 
part  of  Mary's  motive. 

14.  15.  Then— -Not  immediately 
after  the  incident  just  related,  for 
that  incident,  as  has  already  been 
remarked,  is  probably  introduced  by 
Matthew  later  tr  in  the  time  of  its 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 


285 


16  And  from  that  time  lie 
sought  opportunity  to  betray 
him. 

actual  occurrence ;  but  soon  after 
the  assembling  of  the  Sanhedrim  on 
Tuesday  evening,  narrated  with  the 
consultation  in  vv.  3-5.  What  will 
ye  give? —  What  ivill  you  do  it  for? 
would  have  been  a  very  customary 
manner  of  replying.  But  they  knew 
their  man.  They  looked  upon  Je- 
sus as  no  better  than  a  slave,  and  so 
seem  to  have  fixed  their  own  price, 
which  was  the  price  at  which  slaves 
had  in  former  times  been  valued. 
Ex.  21  :  32.  Compare  Zech.  11 :  12, 
13.  Joseph  also  was  sold  for  twenty 
pieces  of  silver.  Thus,  as  Dr. 
Schaff  remarks,  was  committed  by 
the  Sanhedrim  "a  deliberate  insult 
to  our  Lord,  who  died  the  death  of 
a  slave  and  a  malefactor  that  he 
might  redeem  us  from  the  slavery 
and  eternal  misery  of  sin."  Pieces 
of  silver — "Probably  (though  not 
certainly)  the  sacred  shekel,  heavier 
than  the  common  shekel,  and  hence 
told  out  by  weight." — Conant.  Cov- 
enanted— Not,  as  Barnes  and  oth- 
ers, agreed  to  give  him,  but  weighed 
out.  It  has  been  thought  that  fifteen 
dollars  was  too  small  a  sum  to  make 
it  possible  to  account  for  the  terri- 
ble act  of  which  Judas  was  guilty  by 
referring  it  to  his  love  of  money. 
It  is  a  matter  of  actual  and  reliable 
record  that  he  did  deliver  the  Lord 
to  his  enemies  for  just  that  sum; 
but  avarice  may  not  have  been  his 
only  impulse.  Conscious  of  wicked- 
ness, he  must  have  become  preju- 
diced against  Jesus  long  before ;  for 
our  Lord  had  frequently  given  ut- 
terance to  thoughts  which  Judas 
must  have  believed  to  be  aimed  at 
himself.  Prejudice  quickened  into 
indignation  under  the  Lord's  rebuke 
in  the  house  of  Simon,  and  love  of 
money  combined  to  force  him  to  the 
fatal  act.  No  apology  should  be 
made  fur  him.  Jesus  made  none  ; 
the  apostles  none. 

1G.  Sought  opportunity — Such  as 


1 7  %  Now  the  first  day  of  the 
feast  of  unleavened  bread  the 
disciples  came  to  Jesus,  saying 


the   absence   of  the  people  would 
give  him. 

Thursday,  April  6,  A.O.  30. 

Concerning  the  manner  in  which 
our  Lord  spent  Wednesday,  we  have 
no  means  of  knowing.  "  We  can 
well  believe  that  some  part  of  it  was 
spent  alone,  that  he  might  enjoy  that 
full  communion  with  God  which  he 
had  so  earnestly  sought  in  the  midst 
of  his  active  labors,  and  which  was 
now  doubly  dear  to  him  in  view  of 
his  speedy  death.  Some  part  of  it, 
also,  was  doubtless  devoted  to  his 
disciples,  giving  them  such  counsel 
and  encouragement  as  was  demand- 
ed by  the  very  peculiar  and  trying 
circumstances  in  which  they  were 
placed." — Andrews. 

17.  First  day  .  .  .  unleavened 
bread — Thursday,  the  14th  of  Ni- 
san  (April  6),  the  day  before  our 
Lord  was  crucified.  Whether  Jesus 
celebrated  the  Passover  at  the  usu- 
al time  is  a  question  concerning 
which  there  has  not  been  entire 
agreement.  The  question  could  not 
have  arisen  had  not  John  used  ex- 
pressions which  "  seem  to  imply 
that  on  Friday,  the  day  of  our  Lord's 
crucifixion,  the  regular  and  legal 
passover  had  not  yet  been  eaten, 
but  was  still  to  be  celebrated  on  the 
evening  after  that  day."  It  has  been 
shown,  however,  we  think,  that  all 
the  expressions  which  John  has  used 
may  be  fairly  understood  as  not  in 
the  least  conflicting  with  the  theory 
that  the  Lord  ate  the  Passover  at 
the  legal  time.  The  Jews  began  to 
prepare  for  the  Passover  on  Thurs- 
day, Nisan  14,  by  removing  from 
their  houses  all  leaven,  and,  there- 
fore, in  popular  language,  that  day 
was  called  the  first  day  of  unleav- 
ened bread,  though  strictly  speaking 
the  feast  of  unleavened  bread  did 
not  begin  till  the  time  of  the  paschal 


28G 


MATTHEW. 


unto  him,  Where  wilt  thou  that 
we  prepare  for  thee  to  eat  the 
passover  ? 

18  And  he  said,  Go  into  the 
city  to  such  a  man,  and  say 
unto  him,  The  Master  saith, 
My  time  is  at  hand  ;  I  will 
keep  the  passover  at  thy  house 
with  my  disciples. 

19  And  the  disciples  did  as 


supper,  that  is,  in  the  evening,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  loth.  The  at- 
tempt to  throw  discredit  either  upon 
John  or  upon  the  other  evangelists  by- 
proving  that  they  positively  contra- 
dict each  other  in  respect  to  the 
time  of  our  Lord's  crucifixion  and 
the  Passover  is  a  failure.  That  we 
'prepare — The  reference  is  not,  as 
some  think,  to  the  place  where,  for, 
according  to  Luke  (22  :  12,  13),  the 
chamber  would  be  found  already 
prepared.  They  were  to  slay  the 
lamb,  procure  the  unleavened  bread 
and  the  bitter  herbs.  The  following 
striking  description  is  by  Starke,  in 
"Lange's Commentary  : "  "A crowd 
of  Israelites  was  received  into  the 
court,  the  gates  were  shut,  the 
trumpets  sounded.  The  household- 
ers slew  their  lambs.  The  priests 
formed  a  row  which  extended  to  the 
altar,  received  the  blood  in  silver 
basins,  which  they  passed  on  from 
one  to  another;  and  those  who  stood 
nearest  the  altar  poured  it  out  at  its 
feet,  whence  it  flowed  subterrane- 
ously  into  the  brook  Kedron.  The 
householder  lifted  the  slain  lamb  to 
a  hook  on  a  pillar,  took  off  its  skin, 
and  removed  the  fat.  This  last  the 
priest  burned  on  the  altar.  The 
householder  uttered  a  prayer,  and 
carried  the  lamb  to  his  house  bound 
in  its  skin.  When  the  first  crowd 
departed,  another  followed,  and  so 
forth." 

18.  To  such  a  man — Various  rea- 
sons have  been  assigned  for  silence 
relative  to  the  man's  name ;  it  is 
useless  to  surmise  when  we  have  no 


Jesus  had  appointed  them ; 
and  they  made  ready  the  pass- 
over. 

20  Now  when  the  even  was 
come,  he  sat  down  with  the 
twelve. 

21  And  as  they  did  eat,  he 
said,  Verily  I  say  unto  you, 
that  one  of  you  shall  betray 
me. 


possible  means  of  knowing.  Tlie 
city — Jerusalem.  They  were  then 
in  Bethany.  My  time — Of  suffering, 
not,  as  some  say,  of  observing  the 
Passover,  making  my  emphatic,  and 
therefore  affording  proof  that  he  ob- 
served it  before  the  usual  time.  The 
man  was  perhaps  a  friend  to  the 
Saviour,  but  accommodations  were 
freely  rendered  to  those  who  came 
to  the  city  for  such  a  purpose.  It 
does  not  appear  that  Jesus  had  made 
arrangement  with  the  man  before- 
hand. His  omniscience  must  be 
supposed,  which  is  still  more  mani- 
fest when  we  examine  the  corre- 
sponding passages  in  Mark  and 
Luke.  Compare  with  this  the  ac- 
count of  sending  two  disciples  for 
the  ass  (21 :  2),  and  of  sending 
Peter  to  the  sea  for  "a  piece  of 
money"  (17:  27). 

20.  Sat  down — Reclined.  It  has 
been  generally  held  that  the  law  re- 
quired the  Jews  to  eat  the  Passover 
standing,  Ex.  12:  11;  and  Lange 
considers  it  remarkable  that  the 
Jews  ventured  to  modify  the  legal 
prescription.  But  Prof.  Bush  sees 
no  evidence  that  the  directions  in 
Ex.  12  :  11  were  held  to  be  binding 
in  the  subsequent  observance.  The 
directions  were  appropriate  to  the 
first  observance,  but  not  so  after- 
ward; and  from  the  very  fact  that 
Jesus  reclined,  it  may  be  inferred 
that  he  considered  the  standing 
posture  as  required  only  at  the  first 
observance.  We,  therefore,  cannot 
see  with  Dr.  Wordsworth  in  the 
Saviour's  reclining  posture  "proof 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


237 


22  And  they  were  exceeding 
sorrowful,  and  began  every  one 
of  them  to  say  unto  him,  Lord, 
is  it  I? 

23  And  he  answered  and 
said,  He  that  dippeth  his  hand 


that  positive  commands  of  a  cere- 
monial kind,  even  of  divine  origin, 
are  not  immutable  if  they  are  not  in 
order  to  a  permanent  end,"  though 
it  maybe  admitted,  with  Dr.  Schaff, 
that  Dr.  Wordsworth's  remark  is 
"liberal,"  and  "doubly  to  be  ap- 
preciated as  coming  from  a  strict 
Episcopalian." 

22.  The  additions  by  the  other 
evangelists  to  Matthew's  account  of 
the  Supper  will  be  considered  in 
their  place.  Lord,  is  it  I? — Judas 
knows  what  he  has  already  agreed 
to  do,  and  therefore  his  question 
adds  to  the  evidence  of  his  hypoc- 
risy. As  asked  by  the  others,  it 
shows  remarkable  simplicity  and 
sensitiveness  of  spirit,  and  entire 
ignorance  of  the  purpose  of  Judas. 

23.  That  dippeth— "That  has 
dipped;  that  is,  one  who  has  been 
accustomed  to  do  it,  who  has  been 
admitted  to  the  most  intimate  so- 
cial relations  with  me.  'My  own 
familiar  friend,  .  .  .  that  did  eat  of 
my  bread.'  Ps.  41 :9." — Conant.  But 
the  Lord  refers  not  to  the  general 
intercourse  which  Judas  has  had 
with  him,  but  to  the  special  act  of 
eating  with  him  at  the  Passover.  As 
has  been  remarked,  it  would  have 
been  no  answer  whatever  to  the 
question,  Is  it  I?  for  the  other  dis- 
ciples had  "been  admitted  to  the 
most  intimate  social  relations  "  with 
Jesus.  See  Mark  14  :  20  :  It  is  one 
of  the  twelve  thai  dippeth  with  me 
in  the  dish.  "  What  is  meant  here 
was  the  sop  of  charoseth,  which  was 
prepared  of  dates,  figs,  etc.,  and 
which  was  of  a  brick  color  (in  re- 
membrance of  the  Egyptian  bricks) ." 
"  In  ancient  Egypt,  and  also  in  Ju- 
dea,  guests  at  the  table  handled 
their    food  with    the    fingers,   but 


with  me  in  the  dish,  the  same 
shall  betray  me. 

24  The  Son  of  man  goeth  as 
it  is  written  of  him :  but  woe 
unto  that  man  by  whom  the 
Son  of  man  is  betrayed  !  it  had 

spoons  were  used  for  soup  or  other 
liquid  food  when  required.  ...  To 
pick  out  a  delicate  morsel  and  hand 
it  to  a  friend  is  esteemed  "  [in  mod- 
ern Egypt]  "  a  compliment,  and  to 
refuse  such  an  offering  is  contrary 
to  good  manners.  Judas  dipping 
his  hand  in  the  same  dish  with  our 
Lord  was  showing  especial  friendli- 
ness and  intimacy." — Smith's  Dic- 
tionary. 

24.  Goeth— To  death.  As  it  is 
written — That  the  Messiah  was  to 
die  had  been  often  foretold.  Isa.  53  : 
4-9 ;  Dan.  9  :  26.  Luke  (22  :  22) 
says :  The  Son  of  man  goeth  as  it 
was  determined;  and  Peter  did  not 
hesitate  to  say  in  his  sermon  on  the 
Day  of  Pentecost  (Acts  2:  23), 
that  Jesus  had  been  delivered  by  the 
determinate  (established)  counsel 
and  foreknoivledge  of  God.  See 
also  Acts  4  :  28,  which  is  very  strik- 
ing. Counsel  is  purpose.  Purpose 
is  the  natural  antecedent  of  fore- 
knowledge. God  does  not  purpose 
because  he  foreknows,  but  he  fore- 
knows because  he  purposes.  But 
God's  purposes  do  not  imply  the  doc- 
trine taught  by  Dr.  Emmons  and  a 
very  few  others,  that  God  creates 
sinful  volitions  in  the  hearts  of  men. 
That  doctrine  is  neither  taught  in  the 
Bible,  nor  approved  by  reason.  Ju- 
das could  have  chosen  not  to  betray 
the  Lord.  This  is  evidence  that  his 
choice  to  betray  him  was  not  com- 
pelled. "Foreknowledge,"  says 
Dr.  Whedon,  "does  not  force  or 
compel  an  act,  or  make  it  less  free 
than  if  it  were  wholly  unfore- 
known."  Certainly  not ;  but  the  re- 
mark might  have  been  more  com- 
prehensive ;  for  the  purpose  of  God 
must  be  taken  into  the  account.  It 
is  equally  true  that  God's  purpose 


288 


MATTHEW. 


been  good  for  that  man  if  he 
had  not  been  born. 

25  Then  Judas,  which  be- 
trayed him,  answered  and  said, 
Master,  Is  it  I  ?  He  said  unto 
him,  Thou  hast  said. 


does  not  mate  an  act  less  free  than 
if  it  were  wholly  unpurposed.  God 
purposed  to  permit  Judas  to  betray 
the  Lord  of  life.  Judas  purposed  to 
betray.  But  the  purpose  of  Judas 
to  betray,  and  the  purpose  of  God  to 
permit  him  to  betray,  were  two  per- 
fectly distinct  acts.  The  purpose  of 
Judas  was  sinful.  The  purpose  of 
God  to  permit  the  purpose  of  Judas 
was  holy.  It  was  born  of  infinite 
compassion  toward  a  race  of  sinners. 
Dr.  Nast  (Methodist)  makes  an  ex- 
tended quotation  from  Stier  in  ex- 
planation of  this  verse,  in  which  are 
the  following  words:  "And  the 
event  signified  by  this  emphatic  as — 
the  betrayal  of  Christ  by  one  of  his 
chosen  ones — was  recorded  too,  as  it 
was  ordained  (compare  Acts  2  :  23 ; 
4:  28)."  But  woe — God's  purpose, 
then,  did  not  lessen  the  guilt  of  Ju- 
das. The  word  is  pregnant  with 
compassion  and  with  condemnation. 
Good  for  that  man — Calling  this  a 
proverb  makes  nothing  in  support  of 
Universalism  or  Annihilation.  It 
cannot  be  that  Jesus  Christ  would 
have  used  the  words  as  a  mere  rhe- 
torical exaggeration;  for  the  hour 
was  one  of  infinite  moment. 

25.  Is  it  I? — Conscious  guilt 
here  aims  by  impudence  to  save  it- 
self from  exposure.  Master — Rab- 
bi in  the  original.  Its  use  by  Judas 
indicates,  perhaps,  an  assumption 
of  reverence.  Thou  hast  said — A 
Jewish  form  of  affirming.  "The 
day  of  salvation  closed ;  the  hour  of 
the  visitation  of  divine  mercy  ex- 
pired; the  angels  of  peace  sorrow- 
fully removed  from  his  side,  and  Sa- 
tan triumphantly  entered  into  him. 
The  saying  of  the  Saviour,  '  One  of 
you  is  a  devil,'  was  now  verified." 
— Krummacher. 


26  %  And  as  the}'  were  eat- 
ing, Jesus  took  bread,  and 
blessed  it,  and  brake  it,  and 
gave  it  to  the  disciples,  and 
said,  Take,  eat ;  this  is  my 
body. 

26.  As  they  were  eating — While 
the  paschal  meal  was  in  progress. 
Up  to  this  point  Jesus  must  be  sup- 
posed to  have  observed  the  Pass- 
over according  to  the  usual  forms, 
but  here  to  have  departed  from  them, 
and  to  have  "  elevated"  the  paschal 
supper  into  "the  Lord's  Supper." 
Briefly  stated,  the  paschal  service 
was  as  follows,  the  use  of  wine  not 
being  a  requirement  of  the  law. 
That  part  of  the  service  had  been  in- 
troduced by  the  Jews  without  di- 
vine authority. 


1.  A  blessing; 

2.  Wine  (first  cup); 

3.  Washing  hands ; 

4.  Eating  bitter  herbs ; 

5.  Wine  (second  cup); 

6.  The  feast  explained; 

7.  Singing  Ps.  113,114: 

8.  Eating  unleavened  bread; 

9.  Eating  the  lamb; 

10.  Wine    (third  cup,  "  cup  of   bless- 
ing  ")  ; 

11.  Singing  Ps.  115-118; 

12.  Wine  (fourth  cup) : 

13.  Singing  Ps.  120-138; 

14.  Wine  (fifth  cup,  often  omitted). 

Took  bread — This  may  be  sup- 
posed to  have  been  done  between 
the  acts  which  in  the  programme  are 
numbered  9  and  10.  This  is  my 
body — In  the  ninth  century  Pas- 
chasius  Radbert,  abbot  of  a  monas- 
tery, began  the  advocacy  of  the  doc- 
trine "that  by  virtue  of  the  conse- 
cration, by  a  miracle  of  almighty 
power,  the  substance  of  the  bread 
and  wine  became  converted  into  the 
substance  of  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ."  He  insisted  that  in  the 
bread  and  wirie  was  the  same  body 
"  as  that  in  which  Christ  was  born, 
suffered,  arose,  and  ascended  to 
heaven,"  the  change  being  effected 
at  the  utterance  by  the  priest  of  the 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 


289 


27     And  he  took  the  cup, 
and  gave  thanks,  and  gave  it 


words  of  consecration.  The  germ 
of  this  falsehood  was  of  much  ear- 
lier origin.  Even  Martin  Luther 
taught  that  the  communicant  actual- 
ly partakes  of  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ  in  their  "glorified  state/' 
though  he  rejected  the  Romish  view 
that  the  bread  and  wine  cease  to  be 
bread  and  wine.  Luther's  doctrine 
is  called  consubstantiation.  Ac- 
cording to  Luther,  even  an  unbe- 
liever receives  the  real  body  of 
Christ  in  its  spiritual  state.  Zwin- 
gle,  a  contemporary  of  Luther,  taught 
"that  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ 
were  not  really  present  in  the  eu- 
charist ;  and  that  the  bread  and  wine 
were  no  more  than  external  signs, 
or  symbols,  designed  to  excite  in  the 
minds  of  Christians  the  remem- 
brance of  the  sufferings  and  death  of 
the  divme  Saviour,  and  of  the  bene- 
fits which  arise  from  it." — Mosheim. 
False  views  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
still  prevail  very  widely  in  the 
Christian  world;  in  the  Episcopal 
church  as  well  as  in  the  Romish, 
Greek  and  Lutheran.  Dr.  Pusey 
distinctly  avows,  in  the  preface  of 
his  once  celebrated  sermon  on  the 
Eucharist,  his  acceptance  of  the  lit- 
eral sense  of  the  words,  This  is  my 
body;  that  is,  he  believes  the  con- 
secrated elements  to  become,  by  vir- 
tue of  Christ's  consecrating  words, 
"truly  and  really,  yet  spiritually 
and  in  an  ineffable  way,  his  body 
and  blood."  But,  This  is  my  body, 
can  no  more  mean,  this  bread  has 
been  changed  into  my  body,  than 
the  words,  My  body  is  bread,  can 
mean,  My  body  has  been  changed 
into  bread.  Both  logic  and  com- 
mon sense  teach  that  is  here  means 
represents:  This  represents  my 
body;  or,  this  symbolizes  my  body. 
Take,  eat — They  were  not  merely  to 
look  at  the  bread,  even  after  it  had 
been  broken,  and  so  had  been  made 
to  represent  the  breaking,  bruising, 
suffering,  dying,  of  the  Saviour's 
25 


to  them  saying,  Drink  ye  all 
of  it; 


body,  but  they  must  take  it  and  eat 
it;  thus  symbolically  renewing  that 
appropriation  of  the  atonement 
which  they  are  supposed  to  have 
made  already,  and  without  which 
they  would  have  no  right  to  the  Sup- 
per. It  is  to  be  feared  that  many 
communicants,  even  in  the  most 
evangelical  churches,  are  so  feeble 
in  Christian  character,  that  in  eat- 
ing the  bread  and  drinking  the  wine 
they  do  little  more  than  to  make  an 
effort  to  remember  the  historical 
fact  that  Christ  died  for  sinners. 

27.  Took  the  cup— This  was  prob- 
ably in  place  of  the  third  cup  of  the 
Passover.  All  of  it— Not  all  the 
wine,  but  all  ye  disciples.  All  must 
not  be  restricted  to  the  apostles,  for 
(vs.  28)  the  blood  was  shed  for 
many.  As  the  Saviour's  blood  was 
shed  for  many,  that  which  symbol- 
ized it  was  to  be  drunk  by  many. 
In  this  respect  the  apostles  repre- 
sent all  the  members  of  a  scrip- 
turally  organized  Christian  church. 
Yet  the  Church  of  Rome  dared, 
A.  D.  1418,  in  the  Council  of  Con- 
stance, to  enact  that  only  the  of- 
ficiating priests  should  partake  of 
the  cup,  endeavoring  to  reconcile 
the  laity  to  the  law  by  affirming  that 
the  blood  of  Christ  was  contained  in 
bread!  The  Council  of  Trent  de- 
creed, July  16,  1562:  "Whosoever* 
shall  affirm  that  the  holy  Catholic 
Church  had  not  just  grounds  and 
reasons  for  restricting  the  laity  and 
non-officiating  clergy  to  commun- 
ion in  the  species  of  bread  only,  or 
that  she  had  erred  therein:  LET 
HIM  BE  ACCURSED."  The  ob- 
ject of  denying  the  cup  to  the  laity 
was,  doubtless,  to  make  greater 
distinction  between  the  priests  and 
the  people,  and  so  to  add  to  the 
power  of  the  priests.  Drink— Look- 
ing at  the  symbol  would  not  suffice. 
Drinking  represents  the  appropria- 
tion of  the  blood  of  Christ,  by  faith, 
as  the  atonement  for  sin.    The  arti- 


290 


MATTHEW. 


28  For  this  is  my  blood  of 
the   new  testament,  which  is 


cle  to  be  drunk  was  wine  (vs.  29). 
Whether  the  article  in  common  use 
in  Palestine  in  the  days  of  our  Lord 
was  a  fermented  article,  and  wheth- 
er in  our  own  times,  in  oriental 
countries,  by  wine  is  meant,  always, 
a  fermented  article,  are  questions 
which  are  discussed  with  scholar- 
ship and  candor  in  the  "Bibliothe- 
ca  Sacra"  of  January,  1869,  by  Rev. 
Dr.  T.  Laurie,  formerly  a  mission- 
ary of  the  American  Board  of  Com- 
missioners for  Foreign  Missions. 
Avowing  himself,  as  practising  on 
the  principle  of  total  abstinence 
from  intoxicating  liquors  as  a  bever- 
age, and  as  standing,  both  in  the 
pulpit  and  at  the  ballot-box,  among 
the  friends  of  prohibitory  law,  Dr. 
Laurie  maintains  that ' '  unfermented 
wine  is  unknown  in  the  Bible  or  in 
Bible  lands,"  and  that  fermentation 
is  essential  to  the  juice  of  the  vine 
becoming  wine.  The  churches  ought 
to  provide  the  purest  article  of  wine 
possible,  and  not  wine  which,  in  the 
language  of  Dr.  Laurie,  "has  been 
enforced  by  the  addition  of  distilled 
liquors."  Assuming  that  a  church 
has  done  the  best  it  can  in  this  re- 
spect, the  communicant  who  makes 
a  show  of  obeying  the  dying  com- 
mand of  Christ,  Drink  ye  all  of  it, 
by  applying  the  cup  to  his  lips  with- 
out partaking,  offers,  however  unin- 
tentionally, an  indignity  to  the  King 
of  heaven. 

28.  This  is — This  represents,  or 
symbolizes.  The  new  testament — 
new  covenant.  A  covenant  is  an 
agreement  between  two  parties,  in 
which  each  pledges  himself  to  do  a 
given  thing  on  a  given  condition. 
The  difference  between  God  and 
man  is  so  great  that  this  meaning  of 
the  word  seems  not  to  be  strictly  al- 
lowable as  applied  to  God  and  man ; 
for  all  that  man  may  promise  to  do 
must  proceed  from  what  God  has 
already  promised  to  do  for  man. 
There  are  two  great  covenants ;  the 


shed  for  many  for  tbo  remi'3- 
sion  of  sins. 


Mosaic  and  the  Christian.  The  for- 
mer is  the  old,  the  latter  the  new. 
See  Jer.  31 :  31-34 ;  Heb.  8  :  6-13 ; 
Gal.  3  :  17 ;  4  :  24.  They  are  not 
called  the  old  and  the  new  in  conse- 
quence of  difference  in  time.  In 
this  respect,  the  new  is  as  old  as  the 
old.  The  new  covenant  was  not 
distinctly  and  fully  developed  till 
about  the  time  of  our  Lord's  death. 
The  fact  stated  in  the  verse  may  be 
expressed  thus  :  For  this  wine  repre- 
sents my  blood  as  the  ratification  of 
the  blessings  of  the  Christian  dis- 
pensation, which  blood  is  shed  for 
many,  for  a  great  multitude.  It  is 
not  the  intention  to  express  a  defi- 
nite number,  whether  all  or  less  than 
all.  For  the  remission  of  sins — How 
plainly  is  it  taught  that  the  death  of 
Christ  was  vicarious,  that  is.  born 3 
in  place  of  the  death  which  our  suw 
deserve ! 

The  Romanists  call  the  cele  ora- 
tion of  the  Lord's  Supper  Mass  and 
High  Ilass,  the  latter  being  more 
public  and  accompanied  with  music, 
The  Council  of  Trent,  Sept.  17. 
1562,  declared  "  that  in  the  eucha- 
rist  a  true  propitiatory  sacrifice  was 
offered  for  sin,  in  the  same  way  as 
when  Christ  offered  up  himself  as 
a  sacrifice  on  the  cross,"  and  the 
Council  consigned  to  damnation  all 
who  should  deny  it.  According  to 
Romish  authors,  the  bread  or  wa- 
fer is  turned  into  God,  and  so  the 
priests,  by  using  the  words  of  con- 
secration, can  create  the  Creator! 
Raising  the  consecrated  wafer,  that 
is,  God,  at  the  celebration  of  xho 
mass,  so  high  that  all  the  people  can 
see  it,  and  worshipping  it  as  "  The 
Host"  that  is,  a  victim,  from  tn«» 
Latin  hostia,  was  first  ordered  by  t'n-n 
Pope  Honorhis.  What  "  damnable 
heresies"  has  an  apostate  churcu 
not  brought  in !  The  epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  (7  :  27)  says,  Who  netJsti 
not  daily,  as  those  high  priests,  to 
offer  up  sacrifice,  first  for  his  ou>" 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


291 


29  Bat  1  say  unto  you,  I 
will  not  drink  henceforth  of  this 
fruit  of  the  vine,  until  that  day 
when  I  drink  it  new  with  you 
in  my  Father's  kingdom. 

30  And  when  they  had  sung 
a  hymn,  they  went  out  into  the 
mount  of  Olives. 

31  Then  saith  Jesus  unto 
them,  All  ye  shall  be  offended 
because  of  me  this  night :  for 

sins,  and  then  for  the  people's  :  for 
this  he  did  once,  when  he  offered  up 
himself.  See  also  Heb.  9:  25-28. 
Whether  Judas  partook  of  the  Lord's 
Slipper  will  be  considered  in  the 
notes  on  John.  It  -will  appear,  we 
think,  that  he  did  not.  This  is  the 
opinion  of  Andrews,  Owen,  Whe- 
don.  Ellicott,  Barnes,  Olshausen, 
Meander,  Lange,  and  Nast.  That 
unregenerate  persons  may  partake 
of  the  Lord's  Supper  is  still  held  by 
a  very  large  majority  of  the  Chris- 
tian world;  but  it  is  an  unscriptural 
and  baneful  doctrine.  It  grows  very 
naturally,  however,  out  of  the  doc- 
trine of  infant  baptism. 

29.  Until  that  day  when  Id  rink  it 
new,  etc.— Too  much  mysterious- 
ness  has  been  attributed  by  some  to 
these  words.  We  understand  our 
Lord  as  saving  that  he  will  not  again 
unite  with  them  in  this  world  in  the 
Holy  Supper,  but  that  he  will  unite 
with  them  in  observing  it  in  heaven  ; 
but  of  course  in  saying  this  last  he 
speaks  figuratively,  meaning  that  he 
will  participate  with  them  there  in 
spiritual  joys.  We  proceed  upon 
the  supposition  that  Jesus  partook 
of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  we  see  no 
snora  difficulty  in  his  doing  so  than 
in  hia  being  baptized. 

30.  Sung  an  hymn — Probably  Ps. 
115-118.  Meditate  upon  Jesus  sing- 
ing sinless  songs  in  this  sinful  world. 
Eji!  lij-G.  untouched  by  a  breath  of 
roJlu*i"in,  urite  with  lips  that  have 
uttered  unseemly  words  of  ambition 
and  indignation.     The  songs  which 


it  is  written,  I  will  smite  the 
Shepherd,  and  the  sheep  of  the 
flock  shall  be  scattered  abroad. 

32  But  after  I  am  risen 
again,  I  will  go  before  you  into 
Galilee. 

33  Peter  answered  and  said 
unto  him,  Though  all  men  shall 
be  offended  because  of  thee,  yet 
will  I  never  be  offended. 

34  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Ver- 


Jesus  sung  were  not  sorrowful  songs, 
but  were  cheerful,  exultant,  express- 
ive of  trust.  If  there  is  a  spot 
on  earth  where  holy  cheerfulness, 
thanksgiving,  praise,  should  be 
poured  forth  with  lavish  fulness  and 
richness,  it  is  the  spot  where  we 
celebrate  the  Redeemer's  love.  Our 
Lord  sung  in  the  night.  "Joy 
wading  in  tears  ! "  Jesus  sung  songs 
of  joy  when  walking  deliberately  in- 
to the  darkest  cloud  of  sorrow  that 
ever  fell  upon  men.  It  is  human  to 
sing  in  the  hour  of  joy ;  it  is  divine 
to  sing  in  the  hour  of  soitoav. 

31.  Off -ended  because  of 'me — Will 
be  offended  in  me  ;  I  shall  become 
a  stumbling-block  to  you.  Written 
— In  Zech.  13  :  7.  The  words  seem 
to  refer  directly  to  the  Messiah. 
The  prophecy  that  he  would  meet 
them  in  Galilee  was  literally  ful- 
filled. 

33.  Though  all  men — Though  all 
his  fellow-disciples.  His  self-confi- 
dence was  great,  yet  it  should  not 
be  forgotten  that  if  Judas  would  not 
have  said  so,  it  would  have  been 
through  want  of  love  to  his  teacher. 

3L  Thrice — This  word  must 
have  given  terrible  sharpness  to  the 
Saviour's  affirmation.  Before  the 
cock  crow — The  Talmud,  the  Jewish 
Commentary,  in  praise  of  which  so 
much  has  recently  been  said  by 
those  who  have  little  regard  for  the 
New  Testament,  affirms  "that  the 
inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  and  the 
priests  everywhere,  were  forbidden 
to  keep  fowls,  because  they  scratched 


292 


MATTHEW. 


ilj  T.  s??3T  unto  thee,  That  this 
n",j'it,  fcefooro  the  cock  crow, 
thoa  shal t  deny  me  thrice. 

S5  Peter  said  unto  him, 
Though  I  should  die  with  thee, 
yet  will  I  not  deny  thee.  Like- 
wise also  said  all  the  disciples. 

36  %  Then  cometh  Jesus  with 
them  unto  a  place  called  Geth- 
semane,  and  saith  unto  the  dis- 
ciples, Sit  ye  here,  while  I  go 
and  pray  3Tonder. 


up  unclean  worms,"  but,  as  Dr. 
Hackett  remarks,  Lightfoot  "has 
shown  that  the  Talmud  is  not  con- 
sistent with  itself  on  this  point." 
Besides,  there  were  Romans  in  the 
"iiy,  and  they  could  have  kept 
)wis  in.  spite  of  the  Jews.  These 
domestic  fowls  are  now  very  com- 
mon in  Palestine.  Deny — That  he 
knew  him,  which,  of  course,  in- 
volved the  idea  of  denying  that  he 
had  faith  in  him. 

m.  A  place— A  field.  The  field 
was  called  Gethsemane.  From 
John  (18 :  1)  we  learn  that  it  was 
over  the  brook  Kedron.  It  is  called 
by  John  a  garden,  but  by  this  Ave 
must  not  understand  a  garden  in  our 
sense  oi  the  word.  Tradition  places 
it  on  the  western  slope  of  the  Mount 
of  Olives,  "about  one-half  or  three- 
fourths  of  a  mile  English  from  the 
walls  of  Jerusalem."  It  is  now  sur- 
rounded by  a  "  low  wall,  covered 
with  stucco."  Thomson  would  place 
the  Gethsemane  of  the  Scriptures 
"several  hundred  yards  to  the 
north-east  of  the  present  Gethsema- 
ne." Dr.  Hackett  considers  the 
present  inclosure  as  fulfilling  all  the 
conditions  of  the  Scripture  narra- 
tive. "We  may  sit  down  there," 
he  says,  "  and  read  the  narrative  of 
what  the  Saviour  endured  for  our 
redemption,  and  feel  assured  that 
we  are  near  the  place  where  he 
pray?d,  '  saying,  Father,  not  my 
will,  but  thine  be  done,'  and  where, 
4  being  in  an  agony,  he  sweat,  as  it 


37  And  he  took  with  him  Pe- 
ter and  the  two  sons  of  Zebe- 
dee,  and  began  to  be  sorrowful 
and  very  heavy. 

38  Then  saith  he  unto  them, 
My  soul  is  exceeding  sorrow- 
ful, even  unto  death  :  tarry  ye 
here,  and  watch  with  me. 

39  And  he  went  a  little  fur- 
ther, and  fell  on  his  face,  and 
prayed,  saying,  O  my  Father, 
if  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup 


were,  great  drops  of  blood,  falling 
down  to  the  ground.'"  Sit  ye  here 
— The  Redeemer  requested  eight  of 
the  disciples  to  remain  behind,  just 
inside  the  inclosure  probably,  that 
he  might  go  further  in  and  pray. 

87-38.  Peter  and  the  two  sons — 
The  three  whom  he  took  with  him 
upon  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration, 
must  now  be  near  him  as  he  de- 
scends into  the  "  valley  of  tears." 
Exceeding  sorrowful  —  Girt  round 
with  sorrow.  He  was  a  man  of  sor- 
rows ;  but  sorrows  such  as  even  he 
had  never  felt  now  press  upon  him 
with  almost  fatal  weight.  Unto 
death — Doubtless,  he  would  have 
died  before  he  arrived  at  the  cross, 
had  he  not  been  strengthened  from 
above.  Luke  22  :  43.  His  sorrows 
are  too  heavy  to  be  borne  in  the 
presence  of  even  his  three  favorite 
disciples;  and  yet  are  too  heavy  to 
be  borne  unless  they  are  near.  He 
therefore  requests  them  to  tarry 
where  they  are,  which  will  be  suffi- 
ciently near  to  answer  the  demand 
of  human  nature.  What  a  change 
from  the  Hallelujah  of  the  Supper! 
Watch  with  me — The  suffering  Mes- 
siah could  not  ask  his  disciples  to 
pray  with  him,  much  less  for  him. 

39.  A  little  farther  —  Into  the 
garden.  It  was  meet  that  the  God- 
man  should  suffer  alone.  Jesus 
separated  himself  first  from  the 
eight,  then  from  the  three,  and  on 
the  cross  he  Avas  separated  in  a  pro- 
foundly mysterious  sense  from  the 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


J93 


pass   from  me :    nevertheless, 
not  as  I  will,  but  as  thou  wilt. 

40  And  he  cometh  unto  the 
disciples,  and  findeth  them 
asleep,  and  saith  unto  Peter, 
What,  could  ye  not  watch  with 
me  one  hour? 

41  Watch  and  pray,  that  ye 
enter  not  into  temptation  :  the 


Father.  Fell  on  his  face — Luke 
(22 :  41)  says  that  he  kneeled  down. 
— "  The  Saviour,  habituated  to  the 
customary  forms  of  worship,  may 
have  bowed  his  knees,  and,  without 
changing  that  position,  may  also 
have  stooped  fox-ward,  and  inclined 
his  face  to  the  earth."  Such 
changes,  according  to  Dr.  Hackett, 
would  have  been  in  accordance  with 
the  custom  of  worshippers  in  the  East 
at  the  present  day.  This  cup — 
Does  he  refer  to  the  death  of  the 
cross  ?  or  only  to  the  agonies  which 
he  is  now  suffering?  There  is  a 
difference  of  opinion.  Notice  the 
word  this,  as  if  it  were  the  cup 
which  he  teas  then  drinking.  But 
on  the  other  hand  should  be  consid- 
ered the  words  in  John  12  :  27  :  Fa- 
ther, save  me  from  this  hour;  but 
for  this  cause  came  I  unto  this  hour. 
Here,  the  entire  sufferings  of  Christ 
seem  to  be  included.  Not  as  I  will — 
His  soul  is  girt  round  with  sorrow, 
but  his  will  bends  not.  As  his  Fa- 
ther wills,  so  he  wills.  Omnis- 
cience itself  saw  not  the  least  touch 
of  disharmony  between  the  will  of 
even  the  man  Jesus  and  the  will  of 
the  Father.  Some  choose  to  say  it 
was  the  divine  will  of  Christ  that 
remained  firm,  while  his  human  will 
shrunk  from  suffering.  But  it  was 
the  soul,  that  is,  the  sensibilities,  of 
Jesus  that  shrunk.  If  it  is  proper 
to  distinguish  between  the  human 
will  and  the  divine  will,  the  human 
will  remained  as  firm  as  the  divine, 
and  so  in  this  respect,  as  well  as  in 
others,  he  is  an  example  to  his  fol- 
lowers. As  to  the  cause  of  his  suf- 
25* 


spirit  indeed  is  willing,  but  *he 
flesh  is  weak. 

42  He  went  away  again  the 
second  time,  and  prayed,  say- 
ing, 0  my  Father,  if  this  <»Up 
may  not  pass  away  from  me, 
except  I  drink  it,  thy  will  be 
done. 

43  And  he  came  and  found 


ferings,  the  only  explanation  is  to 
be  found  in  Isa.  53  :  4,  5.  He  suf- 
fered as  a  substitute  for  sinners. 
The  supposition  that  his  agony  in 
Gethsemane  was  caused  by  fear  of 
the  physical  sufferings  that  awaited 
him  on  the  cross  is  no  explanation 
whatever.  A  being  of  his  moral 
courage  could  have  gone  through, 
the  anticipation  of  those  sufferings 
as  calmly,  to  say  the  least,  as  his 
own  followers,  in  subsequent  ages, 
anticipated  the  bodily  sufferings  of 
martyrdom. 

40.  Asleep — This  would  show  as- 
tounding insensibility,  were  it  not 
that,  according  to  Luke  (22  : 45),  they 
were  sleeping  for  sorrow.  It  is  re- 
markable that  these  very  men  slept, 
or  were  heavy  with  sleep,  on  the 
Mount  of  Transfiguration.  Men  less 
sorrowful,  or  more  so,  might  not  have 
slept.  Men  more  interested,  or  less 
so,  in  what  was  taking  place  on  the 
mount  might  not  have  slept.  ''High- 
er spiritual  influences  and  transac- 
tions almost  overpowered  the  feeble 
flesh.  Yet  the  Lord  expressly  de- 
clares that  the  disciples  were  morally 
responsible  for  being  in  such  a  con- 
dition. An  analogous  influence  Ave 
see  under  preaching.  Sermons  stim- 
ulate some,  and  send  others  to  sleep, 
according  to  their  dispositions  and 
preparation." — Lange.  What!  — 
This  makes  the  rebuke  too  sharp. 
So  ye  could  not;  or,  }e  could  not 
then.  One  hour — Definite  time  for 
indefinite.  Observe  that  Peter,  who 
had  made  the  strongest  professions, 
is  the  one  addressed. 

41,  Temptation — God  was  apply- 


294 


MATTHEW. 


them  asleep  again :    for  their 
eyes  were  heavy. 

44  And  he  left  them,  and 
went  away  again,  and  prayed 
the  third  time,  saying  the 
same   words. 

45  Then  comethhe  to  his  dis- 
eiples,  and  saith  unto  them, 
Sleep  on  now,  and  take  your 
rest:  behold,  the  hour  is  at 
hand,  and  the  Son   of  man  is 


ing  to  them  a  test  of  character.  That 
test,  should  they  fail  to  watch  and 
pray,  would  become  a  temptation, 
an  occasion  of  fall.  There  is  enough 
within  us,  and  enough  without  us,  to 
make  tests  become  temptations.  See 
more  concerning  temptation  in  the 
note  on  G:  13.  The  spirit  .  .  .  the 
flesh — Some  say,  mind  and  body  • 
others,  that  higher  spiritual  nature 
which  is  the  result  of  grace,  and  that 
lower  nature  which  is  ever  strug- 
gling against  the  higher  and  aiming 
to  secure  the  control.  Neither  view 
need  be  received  exclusive  of  the 
other.  The  body  has  inherent  weak- 
ness, which  disqualifies  it  for  long- 
continued  exertion,  and  this  natural 
difficulty  is  increased  by  sin.  By  its 
very  constitution,  the  immaterial 
nature  is  qualified  to  do  what  the 
body  cannot  do,  and  this  qualifica- 
tion is  greatly  strengthened  when 
the  spirit  is  brought  under  the  power 
of  grace.  The  words  are  a  rebuke, 
but  how  tender!  how  much  like  a 
loving  apology  !  Willing — This  is 
not  strong  enough.  Jesus  means  to 
say  that  the  spirit  is  ready,  eager. 

■45.  Sleep  on — The  direction  may 
be  ironical,  or  it  may  be  an  actual 
permission  toeontinue  sleeping,  yet, 
in  a  moment,  he  tells  them  to  awake. 
The  hour — The  crisis  which  he  had 
so  often  foretold  to  the  disciples, 
and  whh-h  is  indicated  in  the  next 
clause.  Of  sinners — Probably  all 
that  were  concerned  in  the  final 
tragedy,  whether  Jews  or  Romans. 

40.   He  is  at  hand — "The  best  ex- 


betrayed   into   the    hands   of 
sinners. 

46  Rise,  let  us  be  going  :  be- 
hold, he  is  at  hand  that  doth 
betray  me. 

47  f  And  while  he  yet  spake, 
lo,  Judas,  one  of  the  twelve, 
came,  and  with  him  a  great 
multitude  with  swords  and 
staves,  from  the  chief  priests 
and  elders  of  the  people. 


planation  of  this  language,"  says 
Dr.  Hackett,  "is  that  his  watchful 
eye,  at  that  moment,  caught  sight 
of  Judas  and  his  accomplices  as  they 
issued  from  one  of  the  eastern  gates, 
or  turned  round  the  northern  or 
southern  corner  of  the  walls,  in  or- 
der to  descend  into  the  valley.  The 
night,  with  its  moon  then  near  its 
full,  and  about  the  beginning  of 
April,  must  have  been  clear,  or  if  ex- 
ceptionally dark,  the  torches  (John 
18  :  3)  would  have  left  no  doubt 
as  to  the  object  of  such  a  move- 
ment at  that  unseasonable  hour." 

47.  While  he  yet  spake — Probably 
an  hour  or  two  after  midnight.  One 
of  the  twelve — From  such  a  designa- 
tion Judas  can  never  escape.  One 
of  the  twelve!  Let  the  words  ring 
in  the  ears  of  him,  who,  in  our  own 
times,  turns  away  from  his  brethren 
in  the  ministry  and  from  Christ! 
Judas  needed  no  guide.  Often  had 
he  been  there.  Says  John  (18  :  2), 
And  Judas  also,  which  betrayed 
him,  knew  the  place  :  for  Jesus  oft- 
times  resorted  thither  with  his  dis- 
ciples. A  great  multitude — 1.  The 
band  (John  18:  12) ;  whi:h  E.Vi  in- 
son  believes  to  have  beer.  Loritr? 
who  performed  the  menial  offices  of 
the  temple  and  kept  watch  by  night, 
and  were  under  the  coaimana  of  a 
"captain."  To  the  irUerptc^ti^n, 
"a  band  of  Roman  soldiers,"  he 
objects  that  these  would  kiive  V'C1 
Jesus  to  their  own  officers,  and  not 
to  the  chief  priests.  But  would  they 
have   done   that,  had   their  officers 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


295 


18  Now  he  that  betrayed  him 
gave  them  a  sign,  saying, 
Whomsoever  I  shall  kiss,  that 
same  is  he  ;  hold  him  fast. 

49  And  forthwith  he  came  to 
Jesus,  and  said,  Hail,  Master  ; 
and  kissed  him. 

50  And  Jesus  said  unto  him, 
Friend,    wherefore    art    thou 


been  solicited  by  the  priests  to  aid 
them  by  a  detachment  of  soldiers 
under  pretence  of  keeping  down  a 
tumult?  If  it  was  a  band  of  sol- 
diers, it  was  doubtless  a  detachment 
of  the  Roman  cohort  kept  in  the 
Tower  of  Antonia.  2.  Assuming 
that  by  band  is  to  be  understood 
Roman  soldiers,  to  this  must  be  ad- 
ded the  temple-watch.  3.  Chief 
priests  and  servants.  Luke  22  :  50, 
52.  Staves — Clubs.  How  useless 
such  a  multitude,  and  that  armed, 
to  take  the  Lamb  of  God ! 

49.  Kissed  him — In  the  original 
the  term  is  stronger  than  that  used 
in  vs.  48.  The  English  has  no  word 
that  exactly  expresses  it.  It  means 
that  he  kissed  him  very  tenderly.  To 
the  priests  and  the  soldiers  the  word 
would  have  been  needlessly  expres- 
sive. It  was  enough  for  their  purpose 
and  his  too,  to  agree  to  kiss  him ;  and, 
besides,  expressing  himself  in  the 
stronger  manner  would  have  made 
him  in  his  own  eyes,  and  in  theirs, 
ridiculous.  Judas  was  not  a  fool. 
His  hypocrisy,  however,  is  seen  to 
be  the  more  intensely  diabolical,  in 
that  he  showed  greater  affectionate- 
ness  than  was  necessary  to  point  out 
Jesus  to  the  captors.  It  was  thus 
that  he  attempted,  notwithstanding 
what  had  passed  at  the  paschal  sup- 
per, to  make  the  holy  Redeemer  be- 
lieve that  he  was  not  privy  to  the 
deigns  of  the  armed  band.  In  this 
he  played  the  foci.  Great  crimes 
are  woven  into  surprising  inconsis- 
tencies.. Jesus  did  not  refuse  the 
kiss.  What,  an  example  to  the  man 
who  refuses  the  hand  of  him  who 


come?  Then  came  they,  and 
laid  hands  on  Jesus,  and  took 
him. 

51  And,  behold,  one  of  them 
which  were  with  Jesus  stretch- 
ed out  his  hand,  and  drew  his 
sword,  and  struck  a  servant 
of  the  high  priest,  and  smote 
off  his  ear. 


has  offered  him  some  real  or  imagi- 
nary slight !  How  void  of  passion 
is  this  inspired  report  of  the  treach- 
ery of  Judas  !  Contrast  it  with  the 
style  in  which  it  is  spoken  of  by 
uninspired  men  :  ' '  Villain ; "  "  dia- 
bolical betrayer;"  "the  basest  of 
mankind ; "  "  infamous  purpose ; " 
"nothing  so  detestable  and  vile;" 
"a  masterpiece  of  the  devil."  The 
perfect  freedom  of  the  evangelists 
from  all  personal  indignation  in  their 
narratives  of  the  treatment  of  their 
Master  is  a  strong  proof  that  they 
were  writing  under  the  inspiration 
of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

50.  Friend — Though  this  word 
may  be  a  little  stronger  than  the 
original,  yet  the  use  of  even  the 
original  word  is  evidence  of  the  Sav- 
iour's   meekness    and    gentleness. 

Wherefore,  etc.  —  The  meaning 
which  some  have  given,  Do  that  for 
which  thou  art  here,  would  not  be 
generally  admitted. 

51.  One  of  them — According  to 
John  (18  :  10)  it  was  Peter.  Mat- 
thew, Mark,  and  Luke  withhold  the 
name.  As  their  Gospels  were  writ- 
ten much  earlier  than  John's,  it  has 
been  supposed  that  they  omitted  the 
name  through  motives  of  prudence. 
It  is  not  impossible  that  such  waa 
the  fact,  but  it  seems  improbable, 
inasmuch  as  the  man's  ear  was  im- 
mediately healed,  and  many  years 
elapsed  between  the  act  and  the 
writing  of  MattheAv's  narrative, with- 
out Peter's  arrest.  A  servant — The 
high  priest's  OAvn  servant,  not  one 
of  the  servants  of  the  Sanhedrim, 
and  therefore  the  original  says,  the 


296 


MATTHEW. 


52  Then  said  Jesus  unto  him, 
Put  up  again  thy  sword  into 
his  place :  for  all  they  that 
take  the  sword  shall  perish 
with  the  sword. 

53  Thinkest  thou  that  I  can- 
not now  pray  to  my  Father, 
and  he  shall  presently  give 
me  more  than  twelve  legions 
of  angels  ? 

54  But  how  then  shall  the 


servant.  Only  John  mentions  his 
name  (18  :  10),  which  was  Malchus. 
''This  servant  was  prohably  step- 
ping forward  at  the  moment  with 
others  to  handcuff.or  pinion  Jesus, 
when  the  zealous  Peter  struck  at 
him  Avith  the  sword.  The  blow  was 
undoubtedly  meant  to  be  more  ef- 
fective, but  reached  only  the  ear. 
It  may  be,  as  Stier  remarks,  that 
the  man,  seeing  the  danger,  threw  his 
head  or  body  to  the  left,  so  as  to  ex- 
pose the  right  ear  more  than  the 
other." — Dr.  Llackett,  in  Smith's 
Dictionary.  Lange  says:  "Peter 
showed  by  his  first  stroke  that  he 
was  no  soldier."  But  if  Stier  is 
right,  Peter  was  a  better  soldier  just 
then  than  saint.  Peter's  act  was  in- 
excusable, but,  as  originating  in  an 
undercurrent  of  love,  it  stands  in 
striking  contrast  with  the  act  of 
Judas. 

52.  Put  tip  thy  sword — From 
these  words  it  has  been  inferred,  not 
unreasonably,  that  Peter  still  stood 
stretched  for  another  blow.  That 
take  .  .  .  shall  perish — This  is  a 
general  truth,  but  is  intended  pri- 
marily for  this  case.  Had  Peter 
continued  to  use  the  sword,  he 
would  undoubtedly  have  lost  his  life 
in  the  hand-to-hand  fight  which 
would  have  followed.  It  is  true  that 
in  all  times  he  avIio  uses  the  sword 
must  expect  to  perish  by  the  sword  ; 
but  we  cannot  see  with  some  that 
tliis  passage  "justifies  capital  pun- 
ishment as  a  measure  of  just  retri- 
bution for  murder  in  the  hands  of 


Scriptures    be    fulfilled,   that 
thus  it  must  be? 

55  In  that  same  hour  said 
Jesus  to  the  multitudes,  Are 
ye  come  out  as  against  a  thief 
with  swords  and  staves  for  to 
take  me?  I  sat  daily  with 
you  teaching  in  the  temple, 
and  ye  laid  no  hold  on  me. 

56  But  all  this  was  done,  that 
the  Scriptures  of  the  prophets 


the  civil  magistrate."  Capital  pun- 
ishment can  be  justified,  but  this 
passage  is  very  slender  proof  in  its 
support.  The  words,  however,  as 
Lange  holds,  condemn  "the  resort 
to  all  carnal  measures  on  the  part 
of  the  Church,  which  is  a  spiritual 
body,  and  should  only  use  spiritual 
weapons." 

53.  There  was  before  Jesus  one 
of  three  courses  :  1.  He  could  have 
gone  forward  in  suffering;  2.  He 
could  have  resorted  with  his  disci- 
ples to  the  sword ;  3.  He  could  have 
depended  on  help  from  his  Father 
by  means  of  angels.  Had  he  avoided 
the  first,  it  would  not  have  been 
necessary  to  do  the  second;  for 
prayer  to  his  Father  would  have 
brought  to  his  aid  twelve  legions 
(seventy-two  thousand)  of  angels, 
which  fact  Peter  had  overlooked. 
Human  help  was  not  needed.  The 
angels  who  had  worshipped  the  Son 
(Heb.  1  :  6)  would  not  have  hesi- 
tated to  fly  to  his  deliverance.  Le- 
gion—  Six  thousand  Roman  soidiers. 

54-56.  God's  eternal  purpose, 
fragrant  with  love,  lies  at  the  basis 
of  all  the  Old  Testament  prophe- 
cies relative  to  the  sufferings  of 
Christ.  Thief — robber.  Teaching 
—  Very  different  from  robbing. 
Laid  no  hold — But  not  for  want  of 
inclination.  All  .  .  .  forsook—One 
of  the  most  saddening  features  of 
the  narrative.  One  betrays;  one 
denies  ;  all  forsake.  The  first  act 
was  followed  by  suicide ;  the  sec- 
ond by  bitter  weeping ;  the  third  by 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


237 


might  be  fulfilled.  Then  all 
the  disciples  forsook  him,  and 
fled. 

57  f  And  they  that  had  laid 
hold  on  Jesus  led  Mm  away 
to  Caiaphas  the  high  priest, 
where  the  scribes  and  the 
elders  were  assembled. 

58  But  Peter  followed  him 
afar  off  unto  the  high  priest's 
palace,  and  went  in.  and  sat 
with  the  servants,  to  see  the 
end. 


permanent,     unconquerable     fidel- 
ity- 

57.  To  Caiaphas — Not  to  him 
frrst,  but  to  Annas,  father-in-law  of 
fclaiaphas.  John  18  :  13.  The  pre- 
liminary examination  before  Annas 
is  omitted  by  all  the  evangelists  but 
John.  This  verse  records  a  night 
meeting  of  the  Sanhedrim  ;  anoth- 
er was  held  on  the  following  morn- 
ing ('Friday).   27:   1. 

58.  Afar  off— Yes,  but  he  fol- 
lowed him,  which  is  more  than 
many  do  who  once  professed  to  be 
his.  "  Afar  off— Too  far,  but  not, 
like  some,  so  far  that  he  could  not 
see  him.  The  high  priest's  palace 
— The  court,  the  interior,  open 
space.  "Besides  the  mandarah, 
some  houses  in  Cairo  have  an  apart- 
ment called  mak'ad,  open  in  front  to 
the  court,  with  two  or  more  arches, 
and  a  railing,  and  a  pillar  to  sup- 
port the  wall  above.  It  was  in  a 
chamber  of  this  kind,  probably  one 
of  the  largest  to  be  found  in  a  pal- 
ace, that  our  Lord  was  being  ar- 
raigned before  the  high  priest." — 
Smith's  Dictionary.  Sat — "  Unsea- 
sonable companionship,"  says  Ben- 
gel.  To  see  the  end  —  Which  he 
probably  hoped  would  in  some  Avay 
be  favorable,  not  even  yet  habitu- 
ated to  the  teaching  that  Jesus 
"  must"  suffer  death. 

59.  All  the  council — It  is  certain 
that  Matthew   could  not  have  in- 


59  Now  the  chief  priests, 
and  elders,  and  all  the  council 
sought  false  witness  against 
Jesus,  to  put  him  to  death ; 

GO  But  found  none :  yea, 
though  many  false  witnesses 
came,  yet  found  they  none.  At 
the  last  came  two  false  wit- 
nesses, 

Gl  And  said,  This  fellow 
said,  I  am  able  to  destroy  the 
temple  of  God,  and  to  build  it 
in  three  days. 


tended  to  include  Nicodemus  and 
Joseph  of  Arimathea  among  thoso 
who  sought  false  witnesses,  etc. 
Either  these  men  had  already  ceased 
to  meet  with  the  council,  or,  which 
seems  to  be  probable,  all  is  here 
used  in  the  general  sense.  False — 
Of  course  they  did  not  seek  false 
witnesses  in  preference  to  true,  but 
witnesses  they  were  determined  to 
have,  true  or  false.  To  put  him — 
That  they  might  put  him.  His  death 
was  a  foregone  conclusion ;  the  im- 
portant thing,  in  their  judgment, 
was  to  give  the  conclusion  a  show 
of  reasonableness.  This  deadly  op- 
position of  the  leading  religionists 
of  the  country  was  not  a  sudden  out- 
burst of  passion.  It  began  in  the 
early  part  of  the  Lord's  public  life. 

60.  Found  none — These  priests 
and  others  of  the  council  examining 
Avith  breathless  anxiety  the  ' '  many  " 
false  witnesses,  as  their  servants 
succeeded  in  drumming  them  up,  is 
a  scene  surpassed  by  few  which  art 
has  put  upon  canvas.  Many  a  wit- 
ness was  sent  off,  because  he  did  not 
answer  their  purpose.  Either  the 
testimony  was  too  favorable,  or  two 
could  not  be  found  that  told  the  same 
story.  At  last — After  all  previous 
efforts  had  failed.  Two— The  small- 
est number  which  the  Jewish  law  al- 
lowed. Num.  35  :  30 ;  Deut.  17 :  6 ; 
19:  15. 

61.  This  fellow— Fellow  is  need- 


298 


MATTHEW. 


62  And  the  high  priest  arose, 
and  said  unto  him,  Answerest 
thou  nothing?  what  is  it  which 
these  witness  against  thee? 

63  But  Jesus  held  his  peace. 
And  the  high  priest  answered 
and    said    unto   him,  I   adjure 


lessly  supplied.  This  man  is  more 
correct.  They  probably  pointed  to- 
ward him  with  the  hand.  What  Je- 
sus had  said  two  years  before  was 
this  :  Destroy  this  temple,  and  in 
three  days  I  Avill  raise  it  up.  John 
2:  19.  What  the  witnesses  testified 
That  he  had  said  was,  I  am  able  to 
destroy  the  temple  of  God.  1.  De- 
stroy ye  this  temple,  and,  /can  de- 
stroy  it.  are  very  different.  2.  The 
very  substance  of  the  thought 
which  Jesus  had  expi'essed  was  to- 
tally different  from  that  to  which  the 
witnesses  testified.  They  made  him 
refer  to  the  temple  of  Jerusalem ; 
but  he  referred  in  fact  to  the  temple 
of  his  body.  Their  testimony  was 
intended  to  show  that  he  had  spoken 
derogatorily,  arrogantly,  of  God's 
house  ;  but  he  had  only  said  to  the 
Jews,  in  figurative  language,  that  if 
they  should  put  him  to  death  he 
would  rise  again  in  three  days. 
Their  testimony,  then,  was  false. 
But  did  the  witnesses  intend  to  give 
false  testimony?  or  had  they  mere- 
ly misunderstood  him?  Did  they 
really  suppose  that  he  meant  their 
own  sacred  building?  It  is  doubt- 
ful whether  they  gave  the  matter 
any  serious  thought  whatever. 
They  said  (Mark  14  :  58)  that  they 
had  heard  Jesus  say  it  themselves ; 
but  Mark  says  their  testimony  did 
not  agree.  Matthew  may  have  re- 
ported what  the  one  said,  and  Mark 
what  the  other  said.  This  need  not 
be  urged,  however.  It  is  enough  to 
say  that  the  witnesses  destroyed  the 
value  of  each  other's  testimony  by 
telling  different  stories.  They  were 
evidently  tools  of  the  Sanhedrim. 
See  Acts  6  :  11-14  for  the  report  of 
&lse    testifying     against    Stephen. 


thee  by  the  living  God,  that 
thou  tell  us  whether  thou  be 
the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God. 

64  Jesus  saith  unto  him, 
Thou  hast  said  :  nevertheless  I 
say  unto  you,  Hereafter  shall 
ye  see  the  Son  of  man  sitting 


In  that  case,  the  witnesses  were 
suborned,  that  is,  "  secretly  in- 
structed "  what  to  say.  Had  the  tes- 
timony of  the  two  witnesses  against 
Jesus  been  true,  would  it  have  been 
sufficient  to  procure  the  death  of 
Jesus?  Some  think  it  would  have 
been  sufficient  by  the  Jewish  law  to 
convict  him  of  blasphemy ;  and  this 
was  punishable  by  death.  Deut.  13 : 
G-10.  But  Andrews  says,  "If  the 
statements  of  the  witnesses  had 
been  concordant  and  true,  this  lan- 
guage could  be  regarded  at  most  as 
only  a  vainglorious  boast ;  and  if  de- 
serving of  any  punishment,  certain- 
ly not  of  death."  These  false  wit- 
nesses ought  themselves  to  have 
been  punished.  Deut.  19  :  16-19. 

G2-G3.  Arose— In  excitement,  as- 
sumed, possibly,  that  he  might  make 
an  impression  on  the  council.  Some 
would  read  the  two  questions  as  one. 
Dost  thou  not  answer  what  it  is 
which  these  testify  against  thee? 
The  difference  results  merely  from 
a  difference  inpointing.  Two  short 
questions  would  indicate  more  fully 
the  excited  state  of  the  speaker. 
Held  his  peace — It  was  useless  to  re- 
ply to  testimony  of  that  sort.  The 
high  priest  himself  distrusts  it,  and 
therefore  resorts  to  another  method. 
I  adjure  thee — By  Jewish  law  the  ac- 
cused was  put  upon  oath  "  to  clear 
himself."  The  high  priest,  seeing 
it  to  be  impossible  to  convict  him 
by  means  of  witnesses,  and  believ- 
ing that  Jesus  had  professed  to  be 
the  Messiah,  the  Son  of  God,  re- 
solves to  make  him  avow  it  on  oath 
before  the  council.  They  evidently 
felt  that  it  would  be  impossible  to 
obtain  witnesses  that  he  had  ever 
avowed  himself  as  the  Son  of  God, 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


293 


on  the  right  hand  of  power,  and 
coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven. 
65  Then  the  high  priest  rent 
his  clothes,  saying,  He  hath 
spoken  blasphemy  ;  what  fur- 
ther need  have  we  of  witness- 


or  as  the  Messiah.  He  had  avowed 
his  Messiahship  to  his  disciples  and 
to  the  woman  of  Samaria,  but  not 
to  people  generally.  Hence  the  dif- 
ficulty of  getting  proof. 

64.  Thou  hast  said, — This  was 
the  Jewish  method  of  answering  af- 
firmatively. It  was  equivalent  to 
saying,  I  am.  Thus  Jesus  allowed 
himself  to  be  put  on  oath ;  or,  to 
say  the  least,  he  did  not  resist  the 
requisition  of  the  high  priest.  To 
what  extent  this  sanctions  the  sys- 
tem of  civil  oaths,  see  note  on  5  : 
33-37.  Nevertheless — Moreover,  or 
but,  in  addition  to  what  I  have  just 
said,  I  now  add  that  hereafter  ye 
shall  see  the  Son  of  man,  etc.  Sit- 
ting, etc. — Clothed  with  omnipo- 
tence. Hereafter — Not,  necessarily, 
from  that  moment,  but,  speaking 
generally,  from  the  time  of  this  cri- 
sis in  his  life.  Speaking  after  the 
manner  of  the  world,  he  is  now  in 
their  power;  but  soon,  at  the  time 
of  his  resurrection,  his  power  will 
be  manifested,  and  will  continue  to 
be  manifested  till  his  final  coming. 
What  a  scene  is  this !  Seventy  of 
the  leading  men  of  the  nation  sit- 
ting in  judgment  upon  this  appar- 
ently friendless  and  helpless  man 
— they  emphatically  the  weak  par- 
ty, lie  the  almighty  one — and  com- 
pelled to  hear  this  bold  announce- 
ment! 

0;?.  Rent  his  clothes — "'Not  his 
high-priestly  robe,  which  he  wore 
orjly  in  the  temple.'  .  .  .  The  rent 
made  in  the  garment  was  from  the 
neck  downward,  arifl  about  a  span  in 
length."  It  was  an  official  act,  ex- 
pressive of  indignation  at  the  great- 
ness of  the  alleged  crime.  Notice 
the  plural.  He  tore  both  his  gar- 
ments.    Hath  spoken  blasphemy — 


es?  behold,  now  ye  have  heard 
his  blasphemy. 

66  What  think  ye?  They 
answered  and  said,  He  is  guilty 
of  death. 

67  Then  did  they  spit  in  his 


That  was  true  unless  Jesus  was 
what  he  professed  to  be.  The  San- 
hedrim would  have  been  loyal  to  the 
old  covenant  had  it  put  any  man  to 
death  who  was  proved  guilty  of 
blasphemy;  but  it  was  disloyal  to 
the  old  covenant  in  condemning  Je- 
sus without  a  candid  examination 
of  the  question  whether  his  avowal 
of  divine  Sonship  was  not  justified 
by  the  old  covenant  itself. 

6G.  Guilt}j  of  death — The  law 
making  death  the  penalty  of  blas- 
phemy is  in  Lev.  24  :  16.  Mr.  Sal- 
vador and  some  others  have  main- 
tained that  the  sentence  was  strictly 
just.  It  would  seem  that  nothing  but 
unbelief  that  Jesus  was  the  Son  of 
God  could  make  one  of  that  opinion. 

67.  Did  spit  in  his  face — Spitting 
in  the  face  was  not  less  an  insult  in 
very  early  times  than  now.  Deut.  25  : 
9  ;  Num.  12  :  14.  Job  says  (30  :  10), 
They  spare  not  to  spit  in  my  face. 
"Such  is  the  enormity  attached  to 
this  offence  that  it  is  seldom  had  re- 
course to  except  in  extreme  cases.  A 
master,  whose  slave  has  deeply  of- 
fended him,  will  not  beat  him  (for 
that  would  defile  him),  but  he  spits 
in  his  face." — Roberts.  "  Seneca  re- 
cords that  it  was  inflicted  at  Athens 
upon  Aristides  the  Just,  adding,  at 
the  same  time,  that  with  considera- 
ble difficulty  one  individual  was  at 
last  found  willing  to  do  it." — 
Browne,  in  Lange.  Buffeted — 
Struck  a  blow  or  blows  with  the 
fist.  How  many  such  blows  were 
laid  upon  him  is  not  said,  but  men 
who  could  have  done  it  once  could 
have  done  it  many  times.  Smote 
him — The  original  word  does  not 
decide  whether  they  smote  him  with 
the  open  hand  or  with  rods.  Many 
omit. with  the  palms  of  their  hands. 


300 


MATTHEW. 


face,  and  buffeted  him ;  and 
others  smote  him  with  the 
palms  of  their  hands, 

68  Saying,  Prophesy  unto 
us,  thou  Christ,  Who  is  he  that 
smote  thee? 

69  %  "Now  Peter  sat  without 
in  the  palace  :  and  a  damsel 
•came  unto  him,  saying,  Thou 


According  to  Mark  (14  :  05),  it  was 
the  servants  that  struck  him,  and  it 
would  seem  that  some  of  the  San- 
hedrim participated  in  other  parts  of 
the  abuse.  His  visage  was  so  marred 
more  than  any  man.  and  his  form 
more  than  the  sons  of  men.  Isa.  52  : 
14. 

68.  Prophesy— They  first  blind- 
folded him  (Mark  14:  65),  and,  by 
asking  him  to  tell  who  smote  him, 
ridiculed  his  claims  as  a  prophet. 
It  was  a  denial  of  the  claim  by  di- 
rect insult. 

GO.  Without  in  the  palace — With- 
out the  room  where  Jesus  was,  and 
in  the  open  court  around  which  the 
house  was  built.  See  note  on  vs. 
58.  The  following  diagram  may  aid 
in  obtaining  the  correct  conception. 
When  Peter  went  in  (vs.  58),  he 
went  into  the  court  from  the  street 
through  the  porch. 


on 

a 

o 
o 

« 

Kooms. 

W 

o 
o 
3 

00 

Court. 

.a 

Rooms.                    J  5 

Of  Galilee— -The  Galilean.  This 
brings  out  the  contempt  which  the 
damsel  meant  to  express. 


nlso  wast  with  Jesus  of  Gali- 
lee. 

70  But  he  denied  before  them 
all,  saying,  I  know  not  what 
thou  sayest. 

71  And  when  he  was  gone 
out  into  the  porch,  another 
maid  saw  him,  and  said  unto 
them     that   were    there,    This 


70.  lie  denied — Concerning  the 
variations  of  the  other  reports  of  the 
denial,  see  notes  on  the  verses  where 
they  occur.  /  Icnoiv  not — A  lie  di- 
rect. It  will  give  birth  to  worse 
sins.  Satan  would  sift  him  as  wheat. 
More  denial  of  self  would  have 
saved  him  from  denying  Christ. 

71.  Gone  out  into  the 'porch — He 
quails  before  the  damsel,  but  more 
before  the  voice  of  conscious  guilt. 
Them  thai  were  there— Servants  and 
guards.  This  fellow — Here,  also,  the 
word  fellow  should  give  place  to 
man.  Of  Nazareth  should  be  the 
Nazarene.  "Whenever  men  spoke 
of  Jesus  as  the  Nazarene,  they 
either  consciously  or  unconsciously 
pronounced  one  of  the  names  of  the 
predicted  Messiah,  a  name  indica- 
tive both  of  his  royal  descent  and 
his  humble  condition." — Prof.  Day, 
in  Smith's  Dictionary.  See,  in  ex- 
planation of  this  view,  the  note  on 
2  :  23,  second  paragraph. 

72.  With  an  oath — An  offspring 
of  the  lie,  the  twin  of  the  second 
falsehood.  Thus  cowardice  \mU  on 
the  mask  of  courage.  Profane 
swearers  are  none  tne  braver  for 
their  profanity.  As  Peter's  passion 
burst  out  in  profanity,  it  i&  not  diiil- 
cult  to  believe  that  he  may  have 
been  a  profane  swearer  before  his 
conversion. 

73.  Speech  bewrayetk  thee — Ue- 
trays,  discovers.  The  Galileans  had 
some  peculiarities  of  speech  which 
seem  to  have  been  well  known 
even  among  the  common  people  of 
Jerusalem.  They  sounded  three  of 
the  letters  of  the  language  so  that 
they  could  not  be  distinguished  from 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


301 


felloiv  was  also  with  Jesus  of 
Nazareth. 

72  And  again  he  denied  with 
an"  oath,  I  do  not  know  the 
man. 

73  And  after  a  while  came 
unto  him  they  that  stood  by, 
and  said  to  Peter,  Surely  thou 
also  art  one  of  them  ;  for  thy 
speech  bewrayeth  thee. 

74  Then  began  he  to  curse 
and  to  swear,  saying,  I  know 
not  the  man.  And  immediate- 
\y  the  cock  crew. 


75  And  Peter  remembered 
the  word  of  Jesus,  which  said 
unto  him,  Before  the  cock 
crow,  thou  shalt  deny  me 
thrice.  And  he  went  out,  and 
wept  bitterly. 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

WHEN  the  morning  was 
come,  all  the  chief  priests 
and  elders  of  the  people  took 
counsel  against  Jesus  to  put 
him  to  death : 


each  other,  and  still  another  letter 
they  pronounced  like  the  last  in  the 
alphabet.  The  color  of  a  grain  of 
sand  has  aided,  through  the  micro- 
scope, in  detecting  a  criminal ;  so 
may  a  letter  of  the  alphabet. 

74,  75.  To  curse — Not,  to  curse 
those  who  had  just  spoken,  but  to 
invoke  curses  on  himself  in  confirma- 
tion of  the  words,  I  know  not  the 
man.  He  has  become  more  pas- 
sionate, and  fills  the  court  with  his 
self-imprecations.  The  cock  crew — 
How  many  things  may  combine  to 
expose  the  wrong-doer !  nay,  let  it 
rather  be  said,  to  lead  him  to  re- 
pentance ! — a  damsel ;  a  letter  of  the 
alphabet;  the  crowing  of  a  cock: 
memory ;  reflection  (Mark  14  :  72)  ; 
the  eye  of  Christ  (Luke  22:  61). 
Yet  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  convict- 
ing agent  (John  16:  8).  Went  out 
— It  was  quite  time,  for  though  he 
had  been  attracted  to  the  spot  by 
Jove  to  his  teacher,  he  had  been  in 
bad  company.  Penitence  seeks  soli- 
tude. Wept  Utterly — Thus  we  have 
an  illustration  of  the  Saviour's 
word?.  My  sheep  shall  never  perish  ; 
and  in  his  intercessory  prayer  (John 
17:  12),  our  Lord  says  to  the  Fa- 
ther :  While  I  was  with  them  in  the 
wori'l,  Ikrpi  them  in  thy  name.  It 
is  true,  as  the  Methodist  commenta- 
tor, Dr.Whedon,  says,  that  "Death, 
in  his  present  impenitent  condition, 
26 


would  have  consigned  him  to  reme- 
diless woe ; "  but  Christ  had  prayed 
for  him  that  his  faith  fail  not.  Ju- 
das did  not  deny  Christ,  and  yet  he 
was  an  unregenerate  man.  Peter 
did  deny  him,  though  regenerate. 
Judas'  depravity  was  chronic ;  Pe- 
ter's was  acute.  Chronic  sinfulness 
can  be  cured  only  by  regenerating 
power ;  acute  sin  may  be  conquered 
by  a  look.  Whence  the  difference, 
if  we  must  go  to  the  bottom,  between 
Peter  and  Judas  ?  The  prayers  of 
Jesus  were  the  link  in  the  chain 
that  bound  Peter  to  eternal  life.  We 
have  no  right,  therefore,  to  make  the 
supposition  that  had  Peter  died  with 
the  burden  of  his  new  guilt  upon 
him,  he  would  have  been  lost,  with- 
out at  the  same  time  making  the 
supposition  that  Christ  had  not 
prayed  for  him.  It  is  wiser  to  deal 
with  facts  than  to  speculate  upon 
possibilities. 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE  SUICIDE  OF  JUDAS  ;    JESUS  CKU- 
CIIIED   AND    BURIED. 

783  JLJ.C.     Friday  Morning, 
April  7,  A.E>.  3©. 

1.  Morning — Priday morning,  be- 
tween five  and  six  o'clock.  The 
Sanhedrim  may  have  adjourned, 
leaving  Jesus  in  the  hands  of  the 


30tf 


MATTHEW. 


2  And  when  the}-  bad  bound 
him,  t  <:•>•  led  him  away,  and 
deliveied  him  to  Pontius  Pi- 
late the  governor. 

3  %  Then  Judas,  which  had 


betrayed  him,  when  he  saw 
that  be  was  condemned,  re- 
pented himself,  and  brought 
again  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver 
to  the  chief  priests  and  elders, 


guord.  It  had  adjudged  him  guilty 
of  blasphemy  and  guilty  (worthy) 
of  dentil,  but  before  Jesus  could 
be  crucified,  their  decision  that  he 
ought  to  die  must  be  sanctioned  by 
Pilate,  as  the  representative  of  the 
Roman  power,  the  Romans  having 
taken  from  the  Jews  the  right  of 
capital  punishment.  This  second 
meeting,  therefore,  is  held  for  the 
purpose  of  maturing  the  plan  of 
bringing  him  before  Pilate.  The 
members  of  the  Sanhedrim  must  al- 
so have  been  perfectly  aware  that 
the  judgment  which  had  already 
been  passed  upon  him  was  illegal, 
because  taken  in  the  night.  Their 
action  had  been  hasty  and  irregular, 
and  the  personal  abuse  which  Jesus 
bad  suffered  was  in  total  violation 
of  justice.  It  was  barbarous. 
Whether  this  morning  meeting  was 
held  in  the  high  priest's  palace,  or 
in  the  council  chamber  near  the 
temple,  it  is  difficult  to  decide.  The 
words  in  John  (18  :  28),  Then  led 
they  Jesus  from  Caiaphas,  look  as 
if  they  held  this  session  in  the  for- 
mer place. 

2.  Had  bound  him — According  to 
John  (18:  12),  the  soldiers  bound 
him  when  they  took  him  in  tho  gar- 
den. He  may  have  been  partly  or 
wholly  unbound ;  or  he  may  have 
now  been  bound  still  more  securely. 
Led  him  away — To  the  judgment- 
hall  (John  18:  28),  the  Pretorium; 
but  whether  this  was  at  Herod's  for- 
mer palace  (the  palace  of  the  reign- 
ing Herod's  father),  or  whether  it 
was  in  the  Tower  of  Antonia,  is  held 
by  some  to  be  doubtful.  The  tower 
adjoined  the  temple  area  on  the 
north.;  the  palace  was  on  Mount  Zi- 
on,  in  the  western  part  of  the  city. 
It  will  be  assumed  that  Pilate,  when 


in  the  city,  resided  in  Herod's  pal- 
ace. 

roniius  Pilate  the  governor — Pi- 
late was  a  Gentile,  a  Roman.  He 
was  governor,  procurator,  of  Judea. 
He  is  the  ma-n  of  whom  the  well- 
known  Roman  historian,  Tacitus, 
some  of  whose  works  are  studied  in 
American  colleges,  says:  "Christ 
suffered  death  at  the  hands  of  the 
procurator  Pontius  Pilate  in  the 
reign  of  Tiberius."  His  was  by  no 
means  the  best  specimen  of  Roman 
character,  nor,  irrespective  of  the 
part  which  he  took  in  the  condem- 
nation of  Jesus  Christ,  was  it  the 
worst.  His  administration  was  some- 
times stained  by  acts  of  intolerance 
and  severity,  but  many  of  the  rulers 
of  Roman  provinces  were  in  these 
respects  worse  than  he.  There 
were  Romans,  doubtless,  who  would 
on  no  account  have  given  Jesus  up 
to  death.  There  were  others  who 
would  have  done  that  deed  without 
hesitation.  Pilate  had  more  con- 
scientiousness than  these,  more  tim- 
idity and  love  of  office  than  those, 
and  so,  with  a  vacillation  which 
makes  even  a  bad  man  mean,  he 
stands  associated  with  Judas — the 
one  a  Jew,  the  other  a  Gentile — in 
the  blackest  crime  of  history.  He 
was  accused  by  the  Samaritans,  and 
was  sent  to  Rome  for  trial.  It  is 
said  that,  '"wearied  with  misfor- 
tunes,' he  killed  himself."  One  can- 
not but  desire  that  the  official  re- 
port which  he  doubtless  made  to  the 
Roman  emperor  of  the  trial  and  cru- 
cifixion of  Jesus  hadbeen  preserved. 
That  which  is  now  extant  is  spuri- 
ous. 

3.  When  he  saiv — He  may  have 
seen  it  as  the  procession  of  priests 
and  elders  were  going  with  Jesua 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


303 


4  Saying,  I  have  sinned  in 
that  I  have  betrayed  the  in- 
nocent blood.  And  they  said, 
What  is  that  to  us?  see  thou  to 
that. 

5  And  he  cast  down  the 
pieces  of  silver  in  the  temple, 


from  the  council  chamber,  or,  if  that 
was  the  point  of  departure,  from  the 
palace  of  the  high  priest.  Repented 
himself — Godly  sorrow  would  have 
saved  him  from  self-destruction. 
The  original  word  does  not  neces- 
sarily imply  that  kind  of  repentance 
which  consists  of  sorrow  showing  it- 
self in  a  change  of  life.  Such  sor- 
row is  almost  always  expressed  by 
another  word.  Judas  was  filled  Avith 
remorse  on  account  of  the  conse- 
quences. According  to  Barnes  and 
others,  this  verse  shows  ';  that  Ju- 
das did  not  suppose  that  the  affair 
would  have  resulted  in  this  calami- 
tous manner."  But  as  Judas  must 
have  known  that  the  Pharisees  had 
long  been  determined  to  kill  Jesus, 
he  could  not  have  been  wholly  with- 
out expectation  that  death  would  be 
the  result.  It  was  as  true  of  Judas  as 
of  other  criminals  that  he  did  not 
stop  to  give  the  consequences  of  his 
act  much  thought ;  but  that  he  Avas 
so  startled  at  the  result  is  no  proof 
that  the  result  was  entirely  unan- 
ticipated. The  view  from  which  we 
dissent,  if  correct,  would  compel  us 
to  deny  to  Shakespeare  that  knowl- 
edge of  human  nature,  in  some  of 
his  delineations  of  the  workings  of 
conscience,  which  all  the  world  has 
believed  him  to  have.  See  Mac- 
beth. 

4.  I  have  sinned — Judas  had  none 
of  that  consciousness  of  sin  which 
David  had  when  he  confessed, 
Against  thee,  thee  only,  have  1 
sinned;  Wash  me  thoroughly  from 
inine  iniquity.  We  need  not,  how- 
ever, regard  him  as  merely  saying, 
/  erred  (Dr.  Lange)  ;  or,  I  did  evil 
(Luther) . 

5.  In  the  temple — He  did  not  toss 


and   departed,  and  went    Mid 
hanged  himself. 

6  And  the  chief  priests  took 
the  silver  pieces,  and  said,  It 
is  not  lawful  for  to  put  them 
into  the  treasury,  because  it  is 
the  price  of  blood. 


the  thirty  pieces  over  into  the  court 
of  the  Gentiles,  but  he  pressed  his 
way  to  the  holy  place,  and,  possibly, 
entering  it,  threw  them  down  at  the 
feet  of  the  priests.  Hanged  himself 
— A  poor  preparation  for  heaven. 
There  is  no  contradiction  between 
this  and  the  statement  in  Acts  1 : 
18  :  And  foiling  headlong,  he  burst 
asunder  in  the  midst,  and  all  his 
bowels  gushed  out.  "  Matthew," 
says  Dr.  Hackett,  Commentary  on 
the  Acts,  "  does  not  say  that  Judas, 
after  having  hanged  himself,  did  not 
fall  to  the  ground  and  burst  asun- 
der ;  nor,  on  the  contrary,  does  Luke 
say  that  Judas  did  not  hang  himself 
before  he  fell  to  the  ground ;  and  it 
is  obvious  that  the  matter  should 
have  been  so  stated,  in  order  to  war- 
rant the  charge  of  inconsistency.  .  . 
It  has  been  thought  not  improbable 
that  Judas  may  have  hung  himself 
from  the  limb  of  a  tree,  on  the  edge 
of  a  precipice  near  the  valley  of 
Hinnom,  and  that,  the  rope  break- 
ing by  which  he  was  suspended,  he 
fell  to  the  earth  and  was  dashed  to 
pieces."  As  he  stood  in  the  valley 
and  looked  up  the  rocky  terraces, 
which  he  found  by  actual  measure- 
ment to  be  in  one  place  forty  feet 
high,  Dr.  Hackett  was  more  than 
ever  "satisfied  with  the  explana- 
tion." If  Judas  went  at  once  to 
heaven,  he  fared  better  than  his  fel- 
low-apostles, for  most  of  them  lived 
long,  labored  hard,  and  suffered 
much. 

6.  Not  lawful,  etc. — They  proba- 
bly based  this  opinion  upon  Deut. 
23  :  18.  The  treasury,  or  corban, 
was  the  receptacle  for  money  given 
to  the  service  of  God  in  the  temple. 
Josephus  makes  the  following  al- 


304 


MAlTHEW. 


7  And  they  took  counsel, 
and  bought  with  them  the  pot- 
ter's field,  to  bury  strangers  in. 

8  Wherefore  that  field  was 
called,  The  field  of  blood,  unto 
this  day. 

9  Then  was  fulfilled  that 
which  was  spoken  by  Jeremy 


lusion  to  it  in  speaking  of  the  op- 
pressive acts  of  Pilate  :  "  After  this 
he  raised  another  disturbance  by  ex- 
pending that  sacred  treasure  which 
is  called  corban  upon  aqueducts." 
See  Mark  7:  11,  where  corban 
means  not  treasury,  but  the  gift 
itself.  The  price  of  blood — They 
ought  to  have  prayed,  with  David, 
Dch'ver  me  from  bloodg uiltiness,  O 
God.  Their  conscientiousness  was 
dishonest. 

7,  8.  The  potter's  field— Where  it 
was  ^is  not  stated,  though,  as  Dr. 
Hackett  remarks,  "It  is  not  impos- 
sible that  the  potter's  field  which 
the  Jews  purchased  may  actually 
be  the  present  Aeeldama,  which 
overlooks  the  valley  of  Hinnom. 
The  receptacles  for  the  dead  which 
appear  in  the  rocks  in  that  quarter 
show  that  the  ancient  Jews  were  ac- 
customed to  bury  there. "  It  was  on 
the  southern  side  of  Jerusalem.  The 
pottery  which  is  now  in  operation  in 
the  city  is  furnished  with  clay  from 
that  locality.  Strangers — Persons 
who  had  come  from  a  foreign  coun- 
try, whether  Jews,  or  Gentile  prose- 
lytes, or  pagan  Gentiles,  does  not 
appear.  It  is  less  probable  that 
Jews  are  meant.  -  They  bought.  But 
in  Acts  (1 :  18)  it  is  said  that  Judas 
purchased  the  field.  The  difficulty 
may  be  removed  by  supposing  that 
the  Greek  word  in  Acts  has,  what 
many  Hebrew  verbs  have,  a  causa- 
tive sense,  that  is,  a  sense  implying 
that  Judas  w^s  the  cause  or  the  oc- 
casion of  the  purchase.  Many  Greek 
verbs  have  this  sense,  and  there  can 
be  no  objection  to  admitting  it  here. 
According  to  some,  tradition  teaches 


the  prophet,  saying,  And  they 
took  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver, 
the  price  of  him  that  was  val- 
ued, whom  they  of  the  children 
of  Israel  did  value  ; 

10  And  gave  them  for  the 
potter's  field,  as  the  Lord  ap- 
pointed me. 


that  there  were  two  Aceldamas, 
Luke,  in  Acts,  referring  to  the  one, 
and  Matthew  to  the  other ;  but  it  is 
affirmed  that  there  are  no  traditions 
to  that  effect  which  are  old  enough 
to  be  traced  to  the  apostolic  age. 

9, 10.  By  Jeremy — Jeremiah.  But 
there  are  no  such  words  in  Jeremi- 
ah. The  following,  which  are  very 
similar,  are  in  Zechariah  11 :  12, 13  : 
And  I  said  unto  them,  If  ye  think 
good,  give  me  my  price  ;  and  if  not, 
forbear.  So  they  weighed  for  my 
price  thirty  pieces  of  silver.  And 
the  Lord  said  unto  me,  Cast  it  unto 
the  potter  :  a  goodly  price  that  I  was 
prized  at  of  them.  And  I  took  the 
thirty  pieces  of  silver,  and  cast  them 
to  the  potter  in  the  house  of  the 
Lord.  No  satisfactory  solution  of 
the  difficulty  has  yet  been  reached, 
though  many  have  been  proposed. 
The  name  Jeremiah  instead  of 
Zechariah  may  be  the  error  of  a 
transcriber.  To  affirm  that  it  is  a 
mistake  of  the  evangelist  is  a  very 
bold  thing.  In  the  words  of  Dr.  J. 
J.  Owen,  "As  it  regards  the  quota- 
tion itself,  the  prophet  had  demand- 
ed of  the  Jewish  rulers  his  wages 
for  feeding  the  flock.  He  received 
thirty  pieces  of  silver.  This  paltry 
sum,  sarcastically  declared  to  be  a 
goodly  price,  at  which  the  prophet 
(that  is,  his  services)  had  been 
prized  of  them,  he  is  directed  to 
cast  to  the  potter,  who  was  at  work 
near  the  house  of  the  Lord.  This 
low  estimation  of  the  labors  of  Je- 
hovah's servant,  and  his  rejection 
of  the  wages,  which  was  just  the 
very  sum  paid  by  the  priests  to  Ju- 
das, became  a  remarkable  predic- 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


305 


11  And  Jesus  stood  before 
the  governor :  and  the  govern- 
or asked  him,  saying,  Art  thou 
the  King  of  the  Jews?  And 
Jesus  said  unto  him,  Thou 
sayest. 

12  And  when  he  was  ac- 
cused of  the  chief  priests  and 
elders,  he  answered  nothing. 

13  Then  said  Pilate  unto 
him,  Hearest  thou  not  how 
many  things  they  witness 
against  thee? 


tioTi  of  the  valuation  put  upon  Christ 
by  the  chief  priests,  and  the  rejec- 
tion by  Judas  of  the  wages  of  iniqui- 
ty. The  two  events  were  in  these 
particulars  so  similar,  that  the  last 
might  be  said  to  be  the  fulfilment 
of  the  former." 

11.  Jesus  stood — In  the  judgment- 
hall.  John  18  :  28,  33.  The  Jews, 
lest  they  should  be  defiled  by  going 
into  the  judgment-ball  of  a  Gentile 
(John  18  :  28),  stood  outside.  Art 
thou  the  king,  etc.— According  to 
Luke  (23:  2),  they  charged  him 
with  the  design  of  overturning  the 

toman  power  in  Palestine,  and  of 
Baking  himself  king.  He  answers 
the  question  affirmatively  in  the  usual 
Jewish  form  :  Thou  sayest.  But  here 
is  no  equivocation,  for  (John  18  :  36, 
87)  he  soor.  stated  in  what  sense  he 
was  a  kmg.  Observe  that  they  have 
already  condemned  him  in  their  own 
council  on  the  charge  of  blasphemy, 
but  now,  in  accusing  him  before  a 
Poman  governor,  they  shift  their 
ground,  making  his  crime  civil  in- 
stead of  ecclesiastical.  In  this  ac- 
cusation there  is  no  sincerity;  for, 
with  fair  prospect  of  success,  they 
would  undoubtedly  have  gladly  fol- 
lowed Oesus  as  their  chief  in  re- 
belling against  the  Roman  govern- 
ment. 

12.  Accused — Not  necessarily  "to 
his  face.>!  The  chief  priests  were 
the  chief  liars.  They  were  fierce  and 

2(5* 


14  And  he  answered  him  to 
never  a  word ;  insomuch  that 
the  governor  marvelled  great- 

15  Now  at  that  feast  the  gov- 
ernor was  wont  to  release  un- 
to the  people  a  prisoner,  whom 
they  would. 

16  And  they  had  then  a  no- 
table prisoner,  called  Barab- 
bas. 

1 7  Therefore  when  they  were 
gathered  together,  Pilate  said 


clamorous  (Luke  23:  5).  The  ac- 
cused is  inside  the  hall;  the  ac- 
cusers are  outside.  Pilate  (John 
18  :  29)  went  out  to  them. 

13,  14.  Hearest  thou  not — Jesus, 
may  have  overheard  their  accusa- 
tions, or  Pilate,  on  returning,  may 
have  reported  them.  How  many — 
The  governor  refers  not  to  the  num- 
ber of  the  things  charged,  but  to  the 
character  of  the  charges.  It  does 
not  imply  that  Pilate  believed  the 
accusations.  To  never  a  word — Not 
even  to  one  word.  After  this,  ac- 
cording to  Luke,  Pilate  sent  Jesus 
to  Herod,  hoping  thereby  to  escape 
the  necessity  of  deciding  the  case 
himself. 

15,  16.  At  that  feast— It  is  a  gen- 
eral statement,  applying  to  the  Pass- 
over as  held  from  year  to  year.  Of 
the  custom  scarcely  anything  is 
known.  It  is  remarkable  that  such 
sticklers  for  the  law  allowed  them- 
selves to  be  participants  in  sustain- 
ing a  custom  which  to  them  was  a 
violation  of  the  law  of  Moses.  That 
law  said  (Ex.  21 :  12),  lie  that  smiU 
eih  a  man,  so  that  he  die,  shall  surely 
be  put  to  death;  and  Barabbas,  a 
notable,  noted,  prisoner,  was  guilty 
of  insurrection,  robbery,  and  mur- 
der, the  first  of  which  crimes  was 
the  very  one  of  which  they  had  ac- 
cused Jesus,  and  of  the  last  two  of 
which  they  did  not  pretend  that  he 
was  guilty. 


806 


MATTHEW. 


unto  them,  Whom  will  ye  that 
I  release  unto  you?  Barabbas, 
or  Jesus  which  is  called  Christ? 

18  For  he  knew  that  for  en- 
vy they  had  delivered  him. 

19  ^  When  he  was  set  down 
on     the    judgment    seat,  his 


17,  18.  Gathered  together— They, 
that  is,  the  chief  priests  and  scribes, 
went  from  the  judgment-hall  to 
accuse  Jesus  before  Herod.  This 
gathering  together,  therefore,  is 
their  reassembling  before  the  judg- 
ment-hall, after  Jesus  had  been  sent 
back  to  Pilate.  The  governor,  still 
vacillating,  resorts  to  another  ex- 
pedient, which  he  evidently  expects 
will  succeed ;  for  he  takes  for  granted 
that  they  will  not  demand  the  re- 
lease of  such  a  notorious  criminal 
as  Barabbas.  For  envy — They  en- 
vied his  popularity.  They,  not  the 
Sadducees,  had  led  the  people.  They 
knew  that  he  had  gained  wonder- 
fully in  influence  over  the  popular 
mind,  and  that  if  he  should  be  per- 
mitted to  go  on,  their  power  would 
be  lost.  Pilate  knew  Jewish  char- 
acter well  enough  to  feel  assured 
that  this  was  the  real  ground  of  their 
opposition. 

19.  The  judgment-seat — The  ele- 
vated seat  on  the  pavement  (John 
19:  13)  outside  the  judgment-hall. 
It  was  probably  the  regular  tribunal 
of  justice.  Pilate  had  now  taken 
the  seat  to  pronounce  judgment; 
and  while  he  was  sitting  there,  giv- 
ing the  Pharisees  a  moment  to  de- 
cide whether  they  would  have  Jesus 
or  Barabbas,  he  received  a  remark- 
able message.  The  communication 
of  the  message  must  have  been  ob- 
served, though  perhaps  not  over- 
heard, by  some  of  the  Pharisees. 
The  wife  of  a  Roman  governor  could 
accompany  her  husband  to  the  prov- 
ince over  which  he  was  to  rule, 
though  the  practice  had  met  with 
opposition.  Nothing  is  known  of 
Pilate's  wife  except  what  we  learn 
here.    Tradition  says  her  name  was 


wife  sent  unto  him,  saying, 
Have  thou  nothing  to  do  with 
that  just  man  :  for  I  have  suf- 
fered many  things  this  day  in 
a  dream  because  of  him. 

20  But  the  chief  priests  and 
elders  persuaded  the  multitude 


Claudia  Procula,   or  Procla.     The 
Greek     church    has    enrolled    her 
among  their   saints,   which   makes 
the  dead  woman  none  the  better,  and 
makes  some  living  women  worse  by 
making  them    more   superstitious. 
Just  man — Not  merely  innocent  of 
the  charges  alleged,  but  a  man  of 
uncommon      excellence.       Pilate's 
wife  may  have  been  one  of  the  very 
few   heathen   who    had  arrived    at 
some  knowledge  of  the  true  God,  and 
had  some  reverence  forhis character. 
"It  is  a  remarkable  fact,"  says  Dr. 
Schaff,   "  that  a  woman,  and  -she  a 
heathen,  should  be  the  only  human 
being  who  had  the  courage  to  plead 
the   cause   of  our   Saviour   during 
those  dreadful  hours  when  his  own 
disciples  forsook  him,  and  when  the 
fanatical  multitude  cried  out,  Cru- 
cify him !  Crucify  him  J  "  There  is 
much  truth  in  the  remark,  but  the 
courage  necessary  to  send  a  private 
message  to  her  own  husband  couid 
not  have  been  great,     Had  she  gone 
in  person  and  stood  between  the  in- 
nocent sufferer  and  the  bloodthirsty 
priests,    the   act  would  have  com- 
manded the  admiration  oi  the  world. 
Let  not  injustice  be  done  to  such 
women   as  the  Lord's  mother,  and 
Mary,  and  Martini.    Their  relations 
to  Pilate  were  very  different.    Still, 
Pilate's  wife  defended  Jesus.     Let 
pious  women  who  have  irreligious 
husbands    remember    this,      ham/ 
thing? — Much.     The    d-'eam    may 
have  been  natural,   but  even  if  it 
was,  God  is  clearly  to  be  seen  in 
the  event. 

20.  Shoidd  a  si:— Should  ask/or. 
The  Pharisees  now  attempt  io  turn 
aside  the  course  of  justice.  They 
bit  and  bridle   the  multitude,  and 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


307 


that  they  should  ask  Barabbas, 
and  destroy  Jesus. 

21  The  governor  answered 
and  said  unto  them,  Whether 
of  the  twain  will  ye  that  I  re- 
lease unto  3rou?  They  said, 
Barabbas. 

22  Pilate  saith  unto  them, 
What  shall  I  do  then  with 
Jesus  which  is  called  Christ? 
They  all  say  unto  him,  Let  him 
be  crucified. 


spur  it  on  to  trample  Pilate  in  the 
dust.  It  has  been  considered  by- 
most  commentators  that  the  people 
here  mentioned  are  the  same  as 
those  that  sung  hosannas  in  the  tri- 
umphal march.  It  is  perhaps  scarcely 
just  to  regard  this  as  wholly  a  mis- 
conception; yet  it  may  be  hoped 
that  not  many  who  cried  Hosanna 
were  of  those  who  demanded  the 
death  of  Jesus.  In  proportion  as  the 
living  power  of  Christianity  controls 
the  many  will  the  many  become  in 
the  best  sense  independent  of  the  few. 

21.  Whether  of  the  twain  — 
Which  of  the  two.  Barabbas — Men 
are  now  asked  to  choose  Christ,  and 
many  of  them  exclaim,  Not  this 
man!  Sin  is  chosen  in  his  place, 
who,  like  Barabbas,  has  been  guilty 
of  insurrection,  murder,  and  rob- 
bery. O  man !  will  you  not  recon- 
sider your  choice  ? 

22.  Let  him  be  crucified — Sur- 
prise has  been  expressed  that  the 
people  cried,  Crucify  him,  instead 
of  Stone  him.  But  it  would  have 
been  more  surprising  had  the  lat- 
ter been  their  cry.  For,  (1.)  The 
charge  of  blasphemy,  which,  under 
Jewish  law,  was  punishable  by  ston- 
ing, had  been  shifted  to  the  charge 
of  sedition,  and  this,  under  Roman 
law,  was  punishable  by  crucifixion ; 
(2.)  Barabbas  would  have  suffered 
death  by  crucifixion,  and  in  de- 
manding the  release  of  Barabbas 
they   naturally  demand  that  Jesus 


23  And  the  governor  said, 
Why,  what  evil  hath  he  done? 
But  they  cried  out  the  more, 
saying,  Let  him  be  crucified. 

24  f  When  Pilate  saw  that 
he  could  prevail  nothing,  but 
that  rather  a  tumult  was  made, 
he  took  water,  and  washed  his 
hands  before  the  multitude, 
saying,  I  am  innocent  of  the 
blood  of  this  just  person  :  see 
ye  to  it. 


shall  be  punished  as  Barabbas  would 
have  been.  Some  sayings  of  our 
Lord  would  never  have  been  ful- 
filled had  Jesus  been  stoned  (Man. 
20:  19;  John  18:  32),  and  the 
meaning  of  some  portions  of  Scrip- 
ture would  have  been  lost.  See 
Matt.  16:  24;  Deut.  21:  23;  Gal. 
3 :  13.  In  atoning  for  sin,  it  was 
needful  that  Jesus  be  made  a  curse 
by  crucifixion. 

23.  What  evil— Still  reluctant  to 
surrender  him,  yet  still  afraid  to  re- 
lease him.  Cried  out  the  more — 
They  had  at  length  taken  on  the 
form  and  spirit  of  a  mob.  Luke 
23:  23. 

24.  He  yields  to  the  popular 
clamor,  but  protests  that  the  respon- 
sibility is  not  his.  David  says  (Ps. 
26 :  6)  /  will  wash  mine  hands 
in  innocency.  The  Jewish  law 
(Deut,  21 :  1-9)  required  that  in 
case  a  man  was  found  slain,  the  el- 
ders of  the  nearest  city  should  wash 
their  hands  over  a  slaughtered  heifer, 
saying,  Our  hands  have  not  shed 
this  blood.  This  just  person — Pi- 
late does  not  even  attempt  to  per- 
suade himself  that  Jesus  deserves 
punishment.  To  admit  the  perfect 
innocence  of  an  accused  person,  and 
at  the  same  time  to  surrender  him 
to  execution,  is  a  most  infamous 
crime.  How  much  the  heart  of  such 
a  man  needs  washing ! 

25.  How  terribly  has  this  self- 
imprecation     been    answered !     So 


808 


MATTHEW. 


25  Then  answered  all  the 
people,  and  said,  His  blood  be 
on  ns,  and  on  our  children. 

26  %  Then  released  he  Ba- 
rabbas  unto  them :  and  when 
he  had  scourged  Jesus,  he  de- 
livered him  to  be  crucified. 


many  of  the  Jews  were  crucified 
when  the  city  was  destroyed  by  the 
Romans,  that,  according  to  Jose- 
plms,  it  was  difficult  to  find  room 
for  the  crosses ;  and  to  this  day  the 
Jews  have  suffered  as  no  other  peo- 
ple on  earth  have  suffered. 

26.  Scourged — Pilate  scourged 
him  at  the  hands  of  the  soldiers. 
"It  was  usually  lictors  that 
scourged;  but  Pilate,  being  only 
sub-governor,  had  no  command  over 
lictors,  and  handed  Jesus  over  to 
the  soldiers.  Hence  it  is  probable 
that  Jesus  was  not  beaten  with  rods, 
but  scourged  with  twisted  thongs  of 
leather."  The  Jewish  law  permit- 
ted only  forty  stripes,  and  thirty- 
nine  was  the  common  number,  lest 
the  legal  number  should  be  ex- 
ceeded. No  such  limitation  was 
made  by  the  Roman  law;  and,  be- 
sides, those  Roman  soldiers  would 
not  be  likely  to  spare  their  strength. 
The  thongs  were  sometimes  loaded 
with  pieces  of  bone,  or  iron,  or  lead. 
Jesus  having  been  doubtless  stripped 
of  a  part  of  his  clothing,  the  blows 
were  laid  upon  his  back.  Scourg- 
ing by  the  Romans  was  exceedingly 
severe.  Beyond  all  question  the 
back  of  our  Lord  was  greatly  lacer- 
ated, the  blood  flowing  in  streams 
from  the  wounds.  Death  some- 
times ensued  from  the  scourging  it- 
self. I  gave  my  back  to  the  smiters. 
Isa.  50:  6.  The  chastisement  of  cur 
■peace  was  upon  him  ;  and  with  his 
stripes  we  are  healed.  Isa.  53 :  5. 
"  By  delivering  Jesus  to  the  Sanhe- 
drim," says  Dr.  Schaff,  "  Pilate  sac- 
rificed his  lofty  and  independent 
position  as  a  secular  judge,  and  rep- 
resentative of  the  Roman  law,  to  the 
religious  fanaticism  of  the   Jewish 


27  Then  the  soldiers  of  the 
governor  took  Jesus  into  the 
common  hall,  and  gathered  un- 
to him  the  whole  band  of  sol- 
diers. 

28  And  they  stripped  him, 
and  put  on  him  a  scarlet  robe. 


hierarchy.  The  State  became  a 
tool  in  the  hands  of  an  apostate  and 
bloodthirsty  church.  How  often 
has  this  fact  been  repeated  in  the 
history  of  religious  persecution !  " 

27,  28.  The  common  hall — In 
Mark  (15:  1G),  the  same  word  is 
translated  Pretorium.  See  on  vs. 
2.  The  building  was  Herod's  pal- 
ace, but  here  the  court  is  intended. 
And  gathered  unto  him,  etc. — Lange 
speaks  strongly  in  saying  that  "this 
is  conclusive  for  the  palace  being 
the  fortress  of  Antonia."  But  in 
mine  adversity  they  rejoiced,  and 
gathered  themselves  together:  yea, 
the  abjects  gathered  themselves  to- 
gether against  me,  and  I  knew  it 
not;  they  did  tear  me,  and  ceased 
not.  With  hypocritical  mockers  in, 
feasts,  they  gnashed  vpon  me  with 
their  teeth.  Ps.  85:  15,  1G.  The 
whole  band — The  entire  cohort,  one- 
tenth  of  a  Roman  legion.  The  num- 
ber of  the  cohort  varied,  however, 
from  three  hundred  to  a  thousand. 
Calling  this  cohort  five  hundred, 
there  could  not  have  been,  in  the 
court  and  around  the  building,  less 
than  a  thousand  persons,  all  thirst- 
ing for  the  blood  of  their  victim.  It 
is  not  unreasonable  to  suppose  that 
the  number  was  much  larger.  They 
stripped  him — As  they  had  already 
stripped  him  for  the  scourging,  they 
had  either  restored  the  clothing  to 
his  back,  or  they  now  take  off  still 
more.  A  scarlet  robe — The  scar- 
let dye  "was  produced  from  an  in- 
sect, somewhat  resembling  the  co- 
chineal, which  is  found  in  con- 
siderable quantities  in  Armenia  and 
other  eastern  countries.  *  .  .  .  . 
The  tint  produced  was  crimson 
rather  than  scarlet."     In  John  (19  : 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


309 


29  f  And  when  they  had 
platted  a  crown  of  thorns,  they 
put  it  upon  his  head,  and  a  reed 
in  his  right  hand :  and  they 
bowed  the  knee  before  him,  and 
mocked  him,  saying,  Hail,  King 
of  the  Jews!     * 

30  And  they  spit  upon  him, 


2)  the  same  robe  is  called  purple. 
In  Judges  (8:  26),  we  read  of 
"  purple  raiment  that  was  on  the 
kings  of  Midian,"  and  purple  robes 
were  esteemed  among  the  Greeks 
and  Romans.  The  robe  is  put  upon 
Jesus  in  mockery  of  his  alleged  pre- 
tensions to  royalty.  Perhaps  it  be- 
longed to  one  of  the  military  offi- 
cers. 

29.  Still  making  themselves 
merry  over  the  innocent  one,  the 
soldiers  weave  a  crown  of  thorns, 
and  put  it  on  his  head.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  decide  which  of  the  many 
kinds  of  thorn  that  grew  in  Pales- 
tine was  used.  One  kind  is  called 
Zizyphus  Spina  Christi.  "  This 
plant,"  says  a  Swedish  naturalist, 
"  was  very  suitable  for  the  purpose, 
as  it  has  many  sharp  thorns,  and  its 
flexible,  pliant,  and  round  branches 
might  easily  be  plaited  in  the  form 
of  a  crown."  The  croAvn  of  thorns 
was  put  upon  him  partly  to  mock 
him,  and  partly  to  cause  him  pain. 
A  reed — Ahasuerus,  lung  of  Persia, 
into  whose  presence  Esther  ven- 
tured, had  a  golden  sceptre.  The 
soldiers  mock  the  King  of  kings  by 
putting  into  his  hand  a  hollow  reed. 
Bowed  the  knee,  etc. — This  mock 
homage  is  an  unconscious  prophecy 
of  the  real  homage  of  future  ages. 
Here  we  see  the  spirit  of  paganism 
fired  by  the  hate  of  ritualism ;  for  it 
is  difficult  to  believe  that  the  Phari- 
sees were  not  instigators  of  all  this 
personal  abuse,  lie  is  despised  and 
rejected  of  men.    Isa.  53  :  3. 

30.  Spit  upon  him — See  on  26  : 
67.  The  blow  given  by  the  reed,  if 
not  heavy,  was  insulting,  and  doubt- 


and  took  the  reed,  and  smote 
him  on  the  head. 

31  And  after  that  they  had 
mocked  him,  they  took  the  robe 
off  from  him,  and  put  his  own 
raiment  on  him,  and  led  him 
away  to  crucify  him. 

32  And  as  they  came  out, 


less  drove  the  thorns  into  his  head 
and  temples. 

31.  Led  him  away — Before  this 
(John  19:  4,  5),  Pilate  brought 
him  forth  from  the  Pretorium,  wear- 
ing the  crown  of  thorns  and  the  pur- 
ple robe,  and  said  to  them,  Behold 
the  man ! 

32.  As  they  cam.e  out — Not  from 
the  Pretorium,  but  from  the  city, 
for  the  man  was  coming  out  of  the 
country.  Luke  23 :  26.  Gyrene 
was  a  region  of  North  Africa,  lying 
between  Egypt  and  the  country 
about  Carthage.  Many  Jews  lived 
there.  We  read,  in  Acts  2  :  10,  of 
the  parts  of  Libya,  about  Cyrene ;  in 
Acts  6 :  9,  of  a  synagogue  of  the 
Cyrenians  in  Jerusalem,  and  in  Acts 
13  :  1,  of  a  teacher  in  the  church  at 
Antioch, — Lucius  of  Cyrene.  Si- 
mon—He was  born  at  Cyrene,  and 
Avas  now  either  a  resident  in  Jeru- 
salem with  other  Jews  of  Cyrene, 
or  was  an  attendant  at  the  feast.  He 
had,  at  least,  two  well-known  sons, 
Alexander  and  Kufus.  (Mark  15 : 
21).  Compelled — The  act  may  not 
have  been  an  unauthorized  compul- 
sion of  the  man,  but  legal  impress- 
ment, concerning  which,  see  note 
on  5 :  41.  Plutarch,  an  ancieni 
Greek  writer,  says  in  his  work  con- 
cerning "The  Delay  of  Providence 
in  the  Punishment  of  the  Wicked :  * 
"Each  of  the  criminals  bears  his 
own  cross."  John  (19  :  17)  rep- 
resents the  cross  as  being  laid  upon 
Jesus.  The  opinion  that  Jesus  was 
unable  to  bear  it  longer  alone  is 
reasonable.  How  much  he  had  suf- 
fered both  in  body  and  mind  since 
he     left    the     sacramental     table ! 


810 


MATTHEW. 


they  found  a  man  of  Cyrene, 
Simon  by  name  :  him  they  com- 
pelled to  bear  his  cross. 

33  And  when  they  were  come 
tmto  a  place  called  Golgotha, 
that  is  to  say,  a  place  of  a  skull, 


Isaac  carried  the  wood  upon  his 
shoulders.  What  Simon  did  by 
compulsion,  we  should  do  in  love. 

33.  When  they  were  come — The 
way  over  which  tradition  represents 
our  Lord  as  having  passed  is  now 
called  Via  Dolorosa,  the  sorrowful 
way.  The  tradition,  which  has  not 
yet  been  traced  back  farther  than  to 
the  fourteenth  century,  is  doubtless 
without  any  foundation ;  for,  as  An- 
drews remarks,  "  If  the  trial  of  the 
Lord  was  at  the  palace  of  Herod  on 
Mount  Zion,  he  could  not  have 
passed  along  the  Via  Dolorosa." 
Recent  excavations  have  settled  the 
question,  that  even  if  the  direction 
of  the  way  over  which  our  Lord 
passed  was  the  same  as  that  of  the 
Via  Dolorosa,  the  way  must  have 
been  in  many  places  "  not  less  than 
thirty  or  forty  feet"  below  the 
present  level  of  the  Via  Dolorosa. 
"The  latest  excavations  by  Lieut. 
"Warren  near  'Robinson's  Arch' 
have  gone  to  a  depth  of  fifty-five 
feet  below  the  surface  before  ccming 
to  the  bottom  of  the  valley  between 
Zion  and  Moriah.  ...  In  digging 
for  the  foundations  of  the  house  of 
the  Prussian  Deaconesses,  a  sub- 
terranean street  of  houses  was  found 
several  feet  below  the  street  above 
it."  Golgotha — A  word  meaning 
skull.  Why  was  the  place  called 
so?  is  a  question  which  has  re- 
ceived different  answers.  Some 
say,  because,  being  (as  it  doubtless 
was)  the  common  place  of  execu- 
tion, skulls  must  have  abounded 
there.  But  the  Jewish  laws  con- 
cerning cleanliness  make  this  im- 
probable. It  is  more  probable  that 
it  was  so  called  in  consequence  of 
the  shape  of  the  place.  "A  tradi- 
tion at  one  time  prevailed  that  Adam 


34  %  They  gave  him  vinegar 
to  drink  mingled  with  gall :  and 
when  he  had  tasted  thereof,  he 
would  not  drink. 

35  And  they  crucified  him, 
and  parted  his  garments,  cast- 


was  buried  on  Golgotha ;  that  from 
his  skull  it  derived  its  name,  and 
that  at  the  crucifixion  the  drops  of 
Christ's  blood  fell  on  the  skull  and 
raised  Adam  to  life."  The  tradition 
is  not  worth  naming,  except  as  an 
explanation  of  the  fact  that  some  of 
the  early  artists  introduced  the 
skull  into  their  pictures. 

Golgotha  was  outside  the  city 
(Heb.  13:  12).  It  was  near  the 
city  (John  19  :  20).  This  is  nearly 
all  the  Bible  says  concerning  the 
location  of  the  most  remarkable  spot 
on  the  face  of  the  whole  earth.  It 
has  been  believed  by  the  entire 
Christian  Avorld  that  it  was  outside 
the  western  wall.  Very  recently, 
however,  an  elaborate  attempt  has 
been  made  by  Mr.  James  Fergusson, 
Fellow  of  the  Royal  Institute  of 
British  Architects,  to  prove  that  the 
topography  of  Jerusalem  has  been 
totally  misunderstood.  In  accord- 
ance with  his  reasoning  upon  the 
general  subject,  he  transfers  the 
site  of  the  crucifixion  and  burial 
from  the  western  side  of  the  city  to 
the  eastern.  He  puts  it  between 
the  eastern  wall  and  the  valley  of 
thcKidron.  These  "original"  views, 
"unsupported  by  a  single  tradi- 
tion," and  contradicting  "the  pre- 
vious impressions  of  the  Christian 
world,"  have  been  shown  by  the 
Rev.  Samuel  Wolcott,  D.D.,  of 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  to  be  without 
foundation. 

31.  Vinegar — Sour  wine.  Gail — 
Used,  probably,  to  designate  the 
bitterness  of  the  article,  which,  as 
we  learn  from  Mark,  was  myrrh. 
Would  not  drink — He  would  not 
permit  his  sensibilities  to  be  dead- 
ened, but  chose  to  suffer  the 
whole  possible  weight  of  our  sins. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


311 


ing  lots  :  that  it  might  be  ful- 
filled which  was  spoken  by  the 
prophet,  They  parted  my  gar- 


He  would  taste  death  in  all  its  bit- 
terness. To  say  that  it  was  a  re- 
fusal of  superficial  means  of  com- 
fort, that  he  might  have  comfort 
from  the  highest  source,  shows  that 
the  meaning  of  this  entire  tragical 
scene  is  missed.  A  thousand  years 
before,  David,  speaking  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  said,  They  gave  me 
also  gall  for  my  meat ;  and  in  my 
thirst  they  gave  me  vinegar  to 
drink.  Ps.  69:  21.  Rare  cases  ex- 
cepted, is  it  not  better  for  the  pious 
to  suffer  more  in  their  last  sickness 
than  to  take  opiates?  Our  Lord 
died  in  full  possession  of  his  mental 
powers. 

35.  Crucified  him — Nailed  him, 
alive,  to  the  cross.  See  Ps.  22  :  16 : 
They  pierced  my  hands  and  my  feet. 
It  should  be  remarked,  however, 
that  scholars,  without  regard  to 
their  theological  opinions,  are  not 
agreed  that  the  Hebrew  will  bear 
this  translation. 

Crucifixion  was  very  common  and 
very  barbarous.  The  Romans  were 
not  the  only  people  that  used  it. 
The  Jews,  it  is  thought,  borrowed 
it  from  the  Romans.  Its  barbarity 
was  such  that  the  great  Roman  ora- 
tor, Cicero,  said  that  it  ought  to  be 
removed  from  the  sight,  hearing, 
and  thought  of  men.  To  be  cruci- 
fied was  proof  of  special  disgrace. 
Thieves,  robbers,  and  slaves  were 
crucified.  The  victim  was  entirely 
naked,  with  the  exception,  perhaps, 
of  a  cloth  around  the  loins.  In 
some  cases  he  was  nailed  to  the 
cross  while  it  was  lying  on  the 
ground,  but  more  frequently  after 
it  had  been  sunk  into  the  hole  pre- 
pared for  it.  A  nail  was  driven 
through  each  hand.  That  the  feet 
were  also  nailed  has  been  almost 
universally  believed,  but  the  Ger- 
man rationalist,  Paulus,  affirms  that 
they  were  tied.     If  Jesus  did  not 


ments  among  them,  and  up- 
on my  vesture  did  they  cast 
lots. 


die  on  the  cross,  but  only  swooned, 
lie  might  have  walked  after  being 
taken  down;  but  that  Avould  have 
been  impossible  had  the  feet  been 
nailed.  Hence  it  is  for  the  interests 
of  rationalism  to  prove  that  the  feet 
were  tied.  Dr.  Hovey,  after  care- 
fully considering  the  question,  con- 
cludes (Smith's  Dictionary)  thus : 
"  The  nailing  of  the  feet  of  Jesus  to 
the  cross  may  therefore  be  said  to 
rest  on  satisfactory  evidence;  but 
whether  a  single  nail  was  driven 
through  both  feet,  or  they  were 
fastened  separately  to  the  cross, 
cannot  be  ascertained  with  any  de- 
gree of  certainty."  To  prevent  the 
hands  from  tearing  away  from  the 
upper  nails  by  the  weight  of  the 
body,  a  little  seat,  or  "peg,"  was 
prepared,  on  which  the  body  rested. 
The  following  description  of  the 
physical  sufferings  of  our  Lord  is 
by  Dr.  Richter,  who,  in  the  words 
of  Dr.  Schaff,  in  a  note  in  Lange's 
Commentary,  was  "  a  pious  physi- 
cian of  the  Orphan  House  in  Halle  :  " 
"1.  On  account  of  the  unnatural  and 
immovable  position  of  the  body  and 
the  violent  extension  of  the  arms, 
the  least  motion  produced  the  most 
painful  sensation  all  over  the  body, 
but  especially  on  the  lacerated  back 
and  the  pierced  members.  2.  The 
nails  caused  constantly  increasing 
pain  on  the  most  sensitive  parts  of 
the  hands  and  feet.  3.  Inflamma- 
tion set  in  at  the  pierced  members, 
and  wherever  the  circulation  of  the 
blood  was  obstructed  by  the  violent 
tension  of  the  body,  and  increased 
the  agony,  and  an  intolerable  thirst. 

4.  The  blood  rushed  to  the  head,  and 
produced  the  most  violent  headache. 

5.  The  blood  in  the  lungs  accumu- 
lated, pressing  the  heart,  swelling 
all  the  veins,  and  caused  nameless 
anguish.  Loss  of  blood  through 
the     open     wounds    would     have 


312 


MATTHEW. 


36  And  sitting  down,  they 
watched  him  there : 

37  And  set  up  over  his  head 
his  accusation  written,  THIS 
IS  JESUS  THE  KING  OF 
THE  JEWS. 

38  Then  were  there  two 
thieves  crucified  with  him  ;  one 


on  the  right  hand,  and  another 
on  the  left. 

39  %  And  they  that  passed 
by  reviled  him,  wagging  their 
heads, 

40  And  saying,  Thou  that 
destroyest  the  temple,  and 
buildest  it  in  three  days,  save 


ing  from  exhaustion."  We  should 
ever  remember,  however,  that  the 
greatest  sufferings  of  our  Lord  were 
mental.  Crosses  have  been  of  dif- 
ferent forms,  as  follows  :  — 


shortened  the  pain,  but  the  blood 
clotted  and  ceased  flowing.  Death 
generally  set  in  slowly,  the  muscles, 
veins,  and  nerves  gradually  grow- 
ing stiff,  and  the  vital  powers  sink- 

t     +     T       X  t 

Roman.      Greek.        Roman.     St.  Andrew's.  Nineveh  (Sculptures.) 


The  first  is  probably  the  form  of 
the  cross  on  which  Jesus  died :  it 
would  have  given  room  for  the  in- 
scription over  his  head.  Casting 
lots — The  clothes  of  the  crucified 
became  the  property  of  the  execu- 
tioners. The  Saviour's  garments 
consisted  of  the  coat,  or  tunic  worn 
next  to  the  skin,  and  the  cloak, 
which  was  "a  large  piece  of  wool- 
len cloth,  nearly  square,  which  was 
wrapped  around  the  body  or  fast- 
ened about  the  shoulders."  The 
coat  (John  19 :  23)  was  without 
seam,  woven  from  the  top  through- 
out. It  Avas  for  this  that  lots  were 
cast.  The  cloak  was  divided  into 
four  parts,  and  these  were  given  to 
the  four  guards.  Calling  the  soldiers 
"gamblers,"  because  they  cast  lots, 
is  unjust  to  the  apostles ;  for  these 
cast  lots  for  one  to  take  the  place  of 
Judas.  All  scholars  are  agreed  that 
for  the  words  in  this  verse  following 
lots,  there  is  no  good  manuscript  au- 
thority. In  John,  however,  they  are 
genuine,  where  see  notes. 

3G.  Watched — This  was  customa- 
ry, that  the  sufferer  might  not  be 
released  by  friends. 

37.  Set  up— Whether  it  was  the 
soldiers  just  mentioned  that  set  it  up, 


or  some  one  sent  directly  by  Pilate 
after  he  had  written  it,  is  not  stated. 
This  is  Jesus — An  inscription  to  in- 
dicate the  nature  of  the  charge  was 
generally  placed  above  the  head. 
Such  an  inscription,  in  Greek,  is 
found  in  the  writings  of  Eusebius,  the 
translation  of  which  is,  This  is  Atta- 
lus  the  Christian.  The  inscription, 
The  King  of  the  Jews,  was  the  title 
which,  in  the  judgment  of  Pilate, 
would  indicate  the  crime  for  which 
the  Jews  demanded  the  crucifixion 
of  Jesus.  He  adopted  the  inscrip- 
tion, not  as  indicative  of  his  own  pri- 
vate opinion,  but  as  sufficiently  ex- 
pressive of  the  view  pretended  to  be 
held  by  the  priests.  It  is  not  sur- 
prising that  the  priests  were  dis- 
pleased with  it,  and  asked  that  it  be 
changed  for  another.  See  John  19  : 
21.  In  the  narrow  sense,  the  in- 
scription was  false,  whether  in  the 
form  in  which  it  appeared,  or  in  that 
which  the  priests  desired  him  to  sub- 
stitute ;  in  the  wider  sense,  Pilate 
reproduced,  unconsciously,  the 
grand  Old  Testament  truth  that 
Jesus  was  indeed  the  King  of  the 
Jews. 

38-40.     Two    thieves— Two  rob- 
bers.  They  may  have  been  tried  by 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


313 


thyself.  If  thou  be  the  son 
of  God,  come  down  from  the 
cross. 

41  Likewise  also  the  chief 
priests  mocking  him,  with  the 
scribes  and  elders,  said, 

42  He  saved  others  ;  himself 
he  cannot  save.  If  he  be  the 
King  of  Israel,  let  him  now 
come  down  from  the  cross,  and 
we  will  believe  him. 


Pilate  during  this  visit  to  Jerusa- 
lem. Jesus  is  put,  not  on  a  level 
with  them,  but  below  them,  which  is 
indicated  in  his  being  made  the  cen- 
tral sufferer.  Wagging  .  .  saying 
— Even  now  that  the  purpose  to  cru- 
cify him  has  been  effected,  they  can- 
not refrain  from  insulting  him.  See 
Ps.  22  :  7.  They  have  now  nothing 
to  say  of  his  forbidding  to  give 
tribute  to  Ccssar.  That  charge  was 
intended  to  serve  a  purpose  with 
Pilate ;  now  they  taunt  him  with  the 
crime  brought  against  him  before 
the  Sanhedrim.  Come  down — He 
could  have  come  down  from  the 
cross,  but  that,  instead  of  lessening 
the  difficulties  of  the  case,  would 
have  made  them  greater;  for,  on 
the  one  hand,  had  he  released  him- 
self from  the  cross,  it  would  have 
been  proof  of  divine  power,  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  would  have  failed 
to  do  precisely  that  which  the  Old 
Testament  affirms  the  Messiah  was 
to  do, — to  die. 

41-43.  The  chief  priests  mocking 
— The  rabble  wagged  their  heads 
and  mocked :  the  priests  mocked. 
The  extremes  of  Jewish  society  are 
in  Satanic  union.  Re  saved  others 
— He  pretended  to  do  so  is  their 
meaning,  but  their  scorn  is  con- 
densed into  such  terms  that  the 
statement  becomes  an  unconscious 
acknowledgment  of  that  which  is 
the  crowning  glory  of  his  life.  Will 
believe  in  him — Self-imposition,  for 
the  miracle  of  releasing  himself 
from  the  cross  might  be  wrought  by 
27 


43  He  trusted  in  God;  let 
him  deliver  him  now,  if  he  will 
have  him:  for  he  said,  I  am 
the  Son  of  God. 

44  The  thieves  also,  which 
were  crucified  with  him,  cast 
the  same  in  his  teeth. 

45  Now  from  the  sixth  hour 
there  was  darkness  over  all  thd 
land  unto  the  ninth  hour. 

46  And  about  the  ninth  hour 

"Beelzebub"  as  truly  as  releasing 
Lazarus  from  the  dead.  Trusted  in 
God — How  many  truths  fall  from 
the  lips  of  these  children  of  him  who 
was  a  liar  from  the  beginning !  If 
he  will  have  him — If  he  desires  him. 
See  Ps.  22  :  8.  Quoting  from  their 
own  Scriptures,  and  so  unintention- 
ally proving  Jesus  to  be  the  Mes- 
siah! 

44.  The  thieves  also — Luke  says 
that  one  of  the  malefactors  railed  on 
him,  and  represents  the  other  as 
penitent  and  praying.  There  is  not 
even  apparent  contradiction.  Had 
Matthew  stated  that  neither  of  the 
robbers  died  penitent,  or  had  Luke 
reported  that  only  one  of  the  male- 
factors railed,  the  contradiction 
would  have  been  palpable.  They 
say  no  such  thing.  Here  our  re- 
sponsibility in  defending  the  evan- 
gelists against  dishonesty  or  mistake 
ends.  Yet  it  may  be  added  that  both 
the  robbers  may  have  reviled  at 
first,  and  that  afterwards,  one  of 
them,  affected  by  the  glory  that 
shined  from  the  Saviour  even  in  the 
disgrace  which  the  priests  and  the 
people  attempted  to  cast  upon  him, 
was  smitten  with  penitence.  Cast 
the  same  in  his  teeth — Eeproached 
him  with  the  same  thing. 

45.  From  the  sixth  hour — Twelve 
o'clock  at  noon.  Darkness — It  was 
not  an  eclipse,  for  an  eclipse  cannot 
occur  at  the  time  of  full  moon ;  and 
it  has  been  shown  that  at  that  time 
the  moon  was  full.  It  was  undoubt- 
edly the  result  of  that  special  exer- 


314 


MATTHEW. 


Jesas  cried  with  a  loud  voice, 
saying,  Eli,  Eli,  lama  sabaeh- 
thani  ?  that  is  to  say,  My  God, 


cise  of  divine  power  implied  in  the 
word  supernatural.  It  was  "  God- 
made  darkness."  "When  Christ 
was  born,"  says  Lange,  "night 
became  bright  by  the  shining  of 
the  miraculous  starr  as  though  it 
would  pass  into  a  heavenly  day; 
when  he  died,  the  day  darkened  at 
an  hour  when  the  sun  shone  in  the 
fullest  glory,  as  though  it  would 
sink  into  the  awful  night  of  Sheol." 
What  profound  silence  must  have 
reigned  among  the  soldiers  and  peo- 
ple !  Some  doubtless  withdrew  from 
the  spot.  The  Pharisees  would  have 
been  the  first  to  do  so.  Over  all  the 
land — Over  Judea  and  the  adjacent 
countries.  Some  say,  over  so  much 
of  the  earth  as  was  then  illuminated 
by  the  sun.  The  former  is  to  be  pre- 
ferred in  absence  of  proof  that  the 
latter  was  intended.  In  the  bold- 
ness of  metaphor  it  may  be  said  that 
nature  sympathized  with  the  suffer- 
ing Son  of  God.  The  darkness  was 
God's  reproof  to  the  Jews ;  a  source 
of  light  to  the  disciples.  But  neither 
view  exhausts  the  meaning  of  this 
amazing  event.  Consider  its  extent, 
— over  all  the  land !  its  duration, — 
three  hours!  its  intensity, — such 
that  not  one  of  the  evangelists  at- 
tempts to  measure  it ! 

Writers  upon  the  sufferings  of  our 
Lord  have  been  accustomed  to  call 
special  attention  to  what  they  de- 
nominate the  seven  words  from  the 
cross.    These  are  as  follows :  — 


1.  Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know 
not  what  they  do  (Luke  23 :  34). 

2.  Verily  I  say  unto  thee,  To-day  shalt 
thou  be  with  me  in  paradise  (Luke  23 :43). 

3.  Woman,  behold  thy  sonf   .  .  .  Be- 
hold thy  mother  I    (John  19 :  26,  27.) 

4.  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  for- 
saken me  ?     (Matt.  27 :  46 ;  Mark  15 :  34.) 

5.  I  thirst  (John  19 :  28). 

6.  It  is  finished  (John  19 :  30). 

7.  Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commend 
my  spirit  (Luke  23 :  46). 


my  God,  why  hast  thou  for- 
saken me  ? 

47  Some  of  them  that  stood 


Men  have  discoursed  upon  these 
words,  not  only  as  individual  utter- 
ances, but  as  a  connected  whole; 
and,  in  whichever  method  they  are 
considered,  very  rich  and  very  af- 
fecting are  the  thoughts  which  they 
contain.  "  What  significance,"  says 
Stier,  "is  there  in  the  individual 
words ;  how  sharply  definite  is  each 
single  tone  in  the  seven-toned  sym- 
phony!" It  will  be  noticed  that 
Matthew  reports  one;  Mark  one; 
Luke  three ;  John  three.  The  one 
which  Matthew  and  Mark  report  is 
indeed  the  most  remarkable  of  the 
seven. 

46.  Eloi,  Mot,  lama  sabachthani 
—These  words,  the  fourth  of  the 
seven  utterances,  are  in  the  Syro- 
Chaldaic  language,  which,  having 
displaced  the  Hebrew,  was  the  lan- 
guage then  in  common  use.  Mark 
translated  them  into  Greek  for  his 
readers.  Through  all  the  three 
hours  of  darkness  our  Lord  suffered 
in  silence.  Not  a  word  escaped  his 
lips.  Not  after  the  sun  shone  out 
again,  but  near  the  end  of  the  period 
of  darkness,  he  exclaims,  My  Gody 
my  God j  why  hast  thou  forsaken 
me?  These  are  the  opening  words 
of  the  twenty-second  Psalm.  The 
Psalm  describes  the  sufferings  of 
David,  but  it  does  more.  It  por- 
trays sufferings  such  as  David  never 
was  called  to  bear.  Beyond  all  ques- 
tion, the  Holy  Spirit  intended  to 
represent,  through  David,  the  suf- 
ferings of  the  Messiah.  These  words 
from  the  cross  are  the  words  of  the 
Psalmist;  but  the  Saviour  was 
plunged  into  too  deep  and  awful 
darkness  to  permit  him  deliberately 
and  consciously  to  quote  them. 
Though  familiar  with  them  as  the 
words  of  David,  yet,  in  the  inten- 
sity of  his  mental  suffering,  he  ap- 
propriated them  as  completely  as  if 
they  were  originally  his  own.    Let 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


315 


there,  when  they  heard  that, 
said,  This  man  calleth  for 
Elias. 

48  And  straightway  one  of 
them  ran,  and  took  a  sponge, 
and  filled  it  with  vinegar,  and 
put  it  on  a  reed,  and  gave  him 
to  drink. 


the  student  here  pause,  and,  be- 
fore proceeding  further,  read  the 
whole  of  that  remarkable  composi- 
tion. 

Forsaken  me — The  Son  forsaken 
of  the  Father?  The  Messiah  for- 
saken by  him  who  had  moved  men 
by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  speak  of  his 
coming  ?  He  who  had  said  that  he 
was  one  with  God,  that  he  could  do 
nothing  without  the  Father,  that 
God  loved  him  before  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world,  now  forsaken  by 
God?— and  not  concealing  the  terri- 
ble thought  in  his  own  bosom,  but 
uttering  it  aloud  in  the  ear  of  the 
penitent  robber,  and  in  the  ear  of 
the  men  who  are  saying  this  very 
thing  concerning  him,  he  thus 
seeming  to  admit  to  the  latter  the 
truth  of  what  they  affirm !  He  has 
fallen  to  the  lowest  possible  depth 
of  mental  suffering;  the  darkness 
that  rests  over  the  land  is  a  symbol 
of  the  darkness  that  has  come  over 
his  spirit;  but  he  is  not  forsaken. 
He  is  permitted  to  feel  that  he  is  for- 
saken, and  this  is  permitted  that  he 
may  realize  as  deeply  as  is  possible 
for  such  a  sinless  One  to  do,  the 
eternal  separation  from  God  which 
lost  men  would  have  suffered.  Thus 
the  Lord  laid  on  him  the  iniquity 
of  us  all,  yet  not  by  any  means  in 
the  sense  of  punishing  him.  The 
few  persons  who  take,  if  indeed 
there  are  any  who  take,  that  view 
of  his  sufferings,  have  adopted  a 
theology  for  which  there  is  no  war- 
rant in  the  Scriptures.  My  God — 
My  Father  is  the  form  which  Jesus 
had  almost  always  used,  but  now 
the  terrible  sense  of  desertion  does 


49  The  rest  said,  Let  be,  let 
us  see  whether  Elias  will  come 
to  save  him. 

50  %  Jesus,  when  he  had 
cried  again  with  a  loud  voice, 
yielded  up  the  ghost. 

51  And,  behold,  the  vail  of 
the  temple  was  rent  in  twain 


not  permit  him  to  say  Father ;  yet 
his  continued  trust  in  God  permits 
him  still  to  say,  My.  Victory  will 
soon  restore  to  him  the  profounder 
appellation.     See  John  20  :  17. 

47.  Calleth  for  Elias  —  Con- 
science-stricken, they  make  the 
mistake  of  supposing  that  he  calls 
for  the  help  of  Elijah,  and  think 
that  the  day  of  vengeance  is  now  to 
be  ushered  in  by  the  old  prophet ; 
or,  which  is  much  more  probable,  it 
is  "  a  blasphemous  Jewish  joke,  by 
an  awkward  and  godless  pun  upon 
Eli."  As  the  darkness  has  passed 
away,  their  terror  must  have  sub- 
sided. 

48,  49.  Straightway  —  Immedi- 
ately, yet  not  necessarily  implying 
that  it  was  the  very  next  act.  He 
had  just  cried,  /  thirst  (John  19 : 
28).     One — Of  the  Roman  soldiers. 

Vinegar — Undrugged  sour  wine, 
usually  weakened  with  water.  It  was 
given  him  in  sympathy.  Would  a 
priest  have  given  it?  Arced — Of 
hyssop  (John  19  :  29).  The  rest— 
The  other  Roman  soldiers.  Let 
be — This  is  not  said  to  deter  the 
man  from  giving  the  vinegar.  It 
is  equivalent  to  our  English  word, 
Come,  used  in  an  indefinite,  horta- 
tory sense ;  as,  Come,  let  us  see 
whether.  This  is  clear  from  the 
fact  that  in  Mark  the  man  who  gives 
the  drink  uses  the  same  phrase,  and 
he  would  not  exhort  himself  not  to 
do  what  he  was  doing.  There  is  no 
end  to  the  mockery  of  this  solemn 
scene. 

50.  Cried  again — Father,  into 
thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit 
(Luke  23 :  46).     How  many  of  the 


316 


MATTHEW. 


from  the  top  to  the  bottom ; 
and  the  earth  did  quake,  and 
the  rocks  rent ; 

52  And  the  graves  were 
opened ;  and  many  bodies  of 
the  saints  which  slept  arose, 

53  And   came  out  of  the 


followers  of  Christ  have  died  -with 
these  words  on  their  lips  !  Yielded 
up  the  ghost — Thus,  by  enduring 
what  God  accepts  as  if  it  were  equiv- 
alent to  all  that  men  deserve  to  suf- 
fer forever — which  is  the  true  mean- 
ing of  vicarious  sacrifice — he  made 
eternal  life  possible  to  every  one 
that  believes.  The  scribes  and 
Pharisees  have  at  last  effected  the 
purpose  which  they  had  cherished 
for  two  years,  and,  unwittingly,  as 
God's  instruments,  have  accom- 
plished inconceivably  more. 

61.  Thevail — The  innermost  one, 
that  is,  the  vail  which  separated  the 
holy  place  from  the  most  holy.  See 
a  description  of  the  vail  in  Ex.  26 : 
31-33.  Into  the  most  holy  place  no 
one  was  permitted  to  go  but  the  high 
priest,  and  he  only  once  a  year; 
that  is,  on  the  great  day  of  atone- 
ment. The  Jewish  people  and  even 
the  common  priests  were  wholly 
shut  out ;  how  much  more  the  Gen- 
tiles !  To  this  fact  the  writer  of  the 
epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (9  :  7)  makes 
distinct  allusion;  and  he  states  (vs. 
8)  the  typical  meaning.  "In  con- 
sequence of  Christ's  death,  approach 
to  God,  with  offerings  of  praise  and 
prayer,  is  freely  given  to  every  one, 
at  all  times,  who  desires  it." — Dr. 
Ripley's  Notes  on  Hebrews.  Ea- 
tionalism  asks  how  the  evangelists 
could  have  known  that  the  vail  was 
rent.  Keply :  Many  of  the  priests 
became  disciples.  See  Acts  6 :  7. 
The  earth  did  quake — By  supernat- 
ural power.  Here  was  an  earth- 
quake -w  ithout  loss  of  life.  This  is 
a  scene  of  mercy  and  of  wrath,  but 
mercy  predominates. 

52,  53.  The  graves  were  opened — 
The  earthquake  restores  life.    By 


graves  after  his  resurrection, 
and  went  into  the  holy  city, 
and  appeared  unto  many. 

54  Now  when  the  centurion, 
and  they  that  were  with  him, 
watching  Jesus,  saw  the  earth- 
quake, and  those  things  that 


graves  is  meant  tombs.  Whenever 
possible,  the  Jews  buried  in  natural 
or  artificial  excavations  of  rock. 
Saints — Whether  of  recent  times  or 
of  times  long  ago  is  not  stated.  In 
absence  of  proof  it  is  more  reasona- 
ble to  suppose  the  former.  After 
his  resurrection — The  rock  sepul- 
chres were  opened  at  the  time  that 
the  rocks  were  rent,  but,  unless  we 
err  in  too  strict  an  interpretation  of 
the  language,  the  bodies  did  not  quit 
them  till  after  Christ  arose.  Holy 
city — Unholy  in  consequence  of  this 
day's  work  of  its  priests  and  peo- 
ple, but  holy  in  the  sense  of  hav- 
ing long  been  the  centre  of  God's 
government  over  the  Jews.  The 
resurrection  of  these  saints  was  in- 
deed a  stupendous  event,  but  no 
more  to  be  disbelieved  than  any  of 
the  accompanying  events.  It  is  a 
pledge  of  the  general  resurrection. 
Whether  those  who  were  raised  died 
again,  or  whether  they  ascended  to 
heaven,  would  have  been  told  us  had 
it  been  important  for  us  to  know. 

54.  Centurion — As  in  the  former 
part  of  the  gospel,  captain  of  a  hun- 
dred men.  That  were  with  him — 
The  guards.  Those  things — All  the 
attending  events,  especially  the  ex- 
piring groans  and  dying  words  of 
Jesus.  See  Mark's  way  of  report- 
ing it :  15  :  39.  The  Son  of  God— 
God's  son,  there  being  in  the  Greek, 
as  in  some  previous  cases,  no  arti- 
cle. The  centurion  had  probably 
heard  the  words  during  the  trial, 
and  though,  being  a  heathen,  he 
may  not  have  had  a  very  definite 
conception  of  what  the  words  im- 
ply, yet  he  doubtless  felt  that  this 
being  was  more  than  human.  Less 
than  tins  can  hardly  be  supposed, 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


317 


were  clone,  they  feared  greatly, 
saying,  Truly  this  was  the  Son 
of  God. 

55  And  many  women  were 
there  beholding  afar  off,  which 
followed  Jesus  from  Galilee, 
ministering  unto  him : 

56  Among  which  was  Mary 
Magdalene,  and  Mary  the 
mother  of  James   and  Joses, 


Where  were  the  scribes,  the  ex- 
pounders of  Moses  and  the  proph- 
ets ?  There  are  a  few  heathen,  who 
are  so  superior  to  the  system  under 
which  they  have  been  educated,  that 
they  are  better  guides  than  the 
whole  army  of  ritualists  and  ration- 
alists. 

55.  Women  were  there — A  beauti- 
ful fact  in  contrast  with  the  absence 
of  all  the  apostles  save  John.  Afar 
off— Not  so  far  as  to  show  little  in- 
terest in  the  sufferer ;  not  so  near 
as  to  show  insensibility  to  the  gross 
conduct  of  the  chief  actors. 

56.  Mary  Magdalene — A  native, 
perhaps,  of  Magdala,  on  the  west- 
ern coast  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  By 
a  singular  and  widely  spread  misun- 
derstanding, she  has  been  considered 
as  identical  with  the  ' '  woman  which 
was  a  sinner."  Luke  7  :  37.  Preach- 
ers, painters,  poets,  philanthropists, 
have  all  represented  Mary  Magda- 
lene as  having  once  been  a  woman 
of  dissolute  character.  The  Irich 
poet,  Thomas  Moore,  has  helped 
perpetuate  the' libel  in  the  beautiful 
poem, — 

"  Were  not  the  sinful  Mary's  tears." 

As  Eev.  Charles  C.  Starbuck  re- 
marks, the  common  opinion  is  "  lit- 
tle better  than  a  posthumous  slan- 
der." The  opinion  has  no  scriptural 
foundation.  The  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  especially  in  the  person  of 
Gregory  the  Great,  has  contributed 
largely  toward  the  erroneous  view. 
"Magdalen  societies,"  formed  for 
the  purpose  of  reclaiming  fallen 
27  * 


and  the  mother  of  Zebedee's 
children. 

57  When  the  even  was  come, 
there  came  a  rich  man  of  Ari- 
mathea,  named  Joseph,  who  al- 
so himself  was  Jesus'  disciple  : 

58  He  went  to  Pilate,  and 
begged  the  body  of  Jesus. 
Then  Pilate  commanded  the 
body  to  be  delivered. 


women,  ought  to  show  respect  for 
the  memory  of  Mary  Magdalene  by 
taking  some  other  name.  The  pres- 
ence of  these  pious  women  at  the 
cross  reminds  one  of  the  scurrilous 
representation  of  Renan  in  his 
"Life  of  Jesus,"  in  which  he  at- 
tempts to  account  for  the  sorrows 
of  Jesus  in  the  garden  by  the  sup- 
position that  he  was  sighing  for  the 
society  of  the  beautiful  Jewish  maid- 
ens of  Galilee. 

57,  58.  When  the  even  was  come 
—By  the  Jewish  law  (Deut.  21 :  22, 
23)  dead  bodies  were  to  be  removed 
before  sunset.  Joseph,  knowing 
what  the  law  is,  feels  that  he  must 
act  promptly.  This  man  is  a  native 
or  a  resident  of  Arimathea,  concern- 
ing the  location  of  which  men  are 
not  agreed.  The  investigations  hith- 
erto made  point,  on  the  whole,  to 
some  locality  north-west  of  Jerusa- 
lem, about  half  way  from  that  city 
to  the  Mediterranean  coast.  Joseph 
was  a  disciple,  but  he  had  been  want- 
ing in  decision  (John  19  :  38).  He 
is  now  a  disciple  openly.  He  has 
lost  his  "fear  of  the  Jews."  He 
was  an  honorable  counsellor,  that 
is,  probably,  a  member  of  the  San- 
hedrim ;  and  he  was  one  of  the  truly 
pious  Jews  that  were  waitins;  for  the 
kingdom  of  God  (Mark  15:  43). 
Begged — Asked  for.  The  Jews  had 
already  besought  Pilate  that  it  might 
be;  taken  away.  The  Romans  were 
accustomed  to  let  the  bodies  of  the 
crucified  remain  on  the  cross  till 
birds  and  beasts  devoured  them. 
Had  Pilate  given  the  body  to  the 


318 


MATTHEW. 


59  And  when  Joseph  had 
taken  the  body,  he  wrapped  it 
in  a  clean  linen  cloth, 

60  And  laid  it  in  his  own 
new  tomb,  which  he  had  hewn 
out  in  the  rock  :  and  he  rolled 
a  great  stone  to  the  door  of  the 
sepulchre,  and  departed. 

6 1  And  there  was  Mary  Mag- 
Jews,  it  would  doubtless  have  been 
thrown  into  some  receptacle  of  the 
dead  with  the  bodies  of  the  robbers. 

59.  Linen  cloth — Linen,  as  young 
readers  may  not  have  learned,  is 
made  of  flax.  In  ancient  times,  flax 
was  much  cultivated  in  India  and 
Egypt.  It  was  affirmed  that  "the 
mummy-cloths  used  by  the  Egyp- 
tians were  cotton,  and  not  linen.  .  .  . 
But  a  more  careful  scrutiny  by  Mr. 
Bauer  of  about  four  hundred  speci- 
mens of  mummy-cloth  has  shown 
that  they  were  universally  linen." 
In  accordance  with  the  custom  of 
the  Jews,  Joseph  caused  the  body 
of  Jesus — perhaps  he  did  it  with  his 
own  hands — to  be  wrapped  up  in  the 
linen  cloth.  The  cloth  was  wound 
several  times  round  the  body.  Spi- 
ces were  used.  John  19  :  40.  The 
bodies  of  the  robbers,  of  course,  re- 
ceived no  such  tender  care. 

60,  61.  New  tomb — No  man  had 
ever  been  laid  in  it.   John  19 ;  41. 


dalene,  and  the  other  Mary, 
sitting  over  against  the  sepul- 
chre. 

62  f  Now  the  next  day,  that 
followed  the  day  of  the  prep- 
aration, the  chief  priests  and 
Pharisees  came  together  unto 
Pilate, 

63  Saying,  Sir,  we  remem- 


GKOUND     PLANS    OF     SEPULCHRES. 

Artificial  rock-tombs  could  not  have 
been  very  numerous.  "These  tombs 
were  sometimes  very  roomy,  and 
provided  with  passages.     The  sep- 


ulchres were  either  made  with  steps 
downward,  or  placed  horizontally; 
while  the  particular  naves  were  hol- 
lowed out,  either  lengthwise  or 
crosswise,  in  the  walls  of  the  tomb." 
Sitting — Not  Peter,  not  John,  but 
two  women.  It  is  admitted,  with- 
out misgiving,  that  the  majority  of 
our  Lord's  disciples  has  thus  far 
consisted  of  women.  It  is  a  fact 
often  mentioned,  but  not  the  less  de- 
serving to  be  mentioned  again,  that 
woman  was  last  at  the  sepulchre  on 
the  day  of  the  crucifixion  and  first 
on  the  day  of  the  resurrection. 

62,63.  The  day  of  preparation — 
More  properly  translated,  the  2?  rep- 
aration. This  was  Friday.  It  was 
the  day  on  which  the  Jews  prepared 
for  their  Sabbath,  which  answers  to 
our  Saturday.  We  remember — As 
the  disciples  seem  not  to  have  re- 
membered it,  it  has  been  deemed  by 
some  rationalistic  interpreters  diffi- 
cult to  believe  that  the  priests  and 
Pharisees  could  have  even  known  it. 
But  the  disciples  had  not  for- 
gotten itjthough  the  announce- 
ment that  he  was  to  rise  had 
made  only  a  feeble  impres- 
sion upon  them,  which  is  ea- 
sily accounted  for  by  the  fact 
that  they  were  exceedingly 
unwilling  to  think  that  he 
was  to  be  put  to  death.  The 
Pharisees  could  not  have  been 
ignorant  of  the  fact  that  he  had  said 
he  should  rise  from  the  dead ;  for 
he  had  once  distinctly  told  them  (12  : 
40)  that  the  Son  of  man  would  be 
three  days  and  three  nigltts  in  the 
heart  of  the  earth.     Besides,  such  a 


CHAPTER  XXVHI. 


319 


ber  that  that  deceiver  said, 
while  he  was  yet  alive,  After 
three  days  I  will  rise  again. 

64  Command  therefore  that 
the  sepulchre  be  made  sure 
until  the  third  day,  lest  his  dis- 
ciples come  by  night,  and  steal 
him  away,  and  say  unto  the 
people,  He  is  risen  from  the 
dead:  so  the  last  error  shall 
be  worse  than  the  first. 


remarkable  announcement  as  that 
he  would  rise  from  the  dead  could 
not  have  been  kept  from  general 
circulation.  "Would  not  Judas  have 
been  likely  to  speak  of  it  at  last  ? 
It  cannot  be  doubtful  that  the  priests 
had  some  fearful  forebodings  lest  he 
should  again  appear  among  men 
alive.  They  knew  that  Lazarus  had 
been  raised  from  the  dead  by  this 
very  man;  and  even  if  they  be- 
lieved that  he  had  been  raised  by 
the  help  of  Beelzebub,  who  could 
tell  but  that  Beelzebub  might  help 
the  man  to  raise  himself? 

64.  Be  made  sure — Secure.  The 
last  error — That  of  the  people  be- 
lieving that  he  had  actually  risen. 
In  that  case  their  influence  over  the 
people  would  be  lost.  We  see  in 
this  request  to  Pilate,  in  a  striking 
manner,  the  working  of  fear.  No 
other  body  being  in  the  tomb,  they 
could  not  apprehend  imposition  of 
another  sort. 

65.  A  watch — Some  think  this  im- 
plies that  the  four  soldiers  who 
watched  him  before  the  body  had 
been  taken  down,  were  still  on  duty 
at  the  sepulchre,  but  this  is  without 
proof.  He  may  have  used  the  pres- 
ent in  a  hurried,  colloquial  manner ; 
or,  it  may  mean,  You  have  a  watch 
at  your  command ;  all  you  need  to 
do  is  to  go  and  employ  it.  Pilate 
shows  no  special  desire  to  relieve 
them  from  their  apprehensions. 

GG.  Sealing  the  stone — Seals  were 
much  used  in  oriental  countries  for 
the  purpose  of  making  a  document 


65  Pilate  said  unto  them,  Ye 
have  a  watch:  go  your  way, 
make  it  as  sure  as  ye  can. 

66  So  they  went,  and  made 
the  sepulchre  sure,  sealing  the 
stone,  and  setting  a  watch. 


I 


CHAPTER  XXVHI. 

N  the  end  of  the  sabbath,  as 
it  began  to  dawn  toward  the 


stronger.  They  were  made  of  pre- 
cious stones,  common  stones,  and 
even  of  pottery.  In  the  Alnwick 
Museum  is  a  seal  in  the  cylinder 
form,  which  "bears  the  date  of 
Osirtasen  I.,  or  between  2000  and 
3000  B.C.  ...  In  many  cases  the 
seal  consisted  of  a  lump  of  clay,  im- 
pressed with  the  seal,  and  attached 
to  the  document,  whether  of  papy- 
rus or  other  material,  by  strings.  .  . 
One  such  found  at  Nimroud  was  the 
seal  of  Sebaco,  King  of  Egypt,  B.C. 
711,  and  another  is  believed  by  Mr. 
Layard  to  have  been  the  seal  of  Sen- 
nacherib, of  nearly  the  same  date. 
In  a  somewhat  similar  manner, 
doors  of  tombs  or  other  places  in- 
tended to  be  closed  were  sealed  with 
lumps  of  clay."  How  secure  the 
sepulchre  was  made  by  this  twofold 
precaution,  sealing  and  watching, 
will  soon  appear. 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

EESUKEECTION  OP  JESUS  ;    THE  LAST 
COMMISSION. 


?83  TJ.C. 


Sunday,  April  », 
..!».  iiO. 


God  did  not  suffer  his  Holy  One 
to  see  corruption.  Jesus  died,  as 
truly  died,  as  any  human  being 
whatever,  but  from  the  instant  that 
his  spirit  departed  the  body  was 
proof  against  decomposition.  Hence 
it  has  been  denied  that  the  blood 
which   came  from   his   side,  when 


320 


MATTHEW. 


first  day  of  the  week,  came 
Mary  Magdalene  and  the  other 
Mary  to  see  the  sepulchre. 

2  And,  behold,  there  was  a 
great  earthquake  :  for  the  an- 
gel of  the  Lord  descended  from 
heaven,  and  came  and  rolled 
back  the  stone  from  the  door, 
and  sat  upon  it. 

3  His  countenance  was  like 


pierced,  was  coagulated  blood.  Un- 
less divine  power  interpose,  the 
death  of  a  sinful  human  being  neces- 
sarily involves  the  total  dissolution 
of  the  body.  In  the  case  of  Jesus, 
death  was  only  the  temporary  sep- 
aration of  the  spirit  from  the  body. 
Whom  God  hath  raised  up,  having 
loosed  the  pains  of  death:  because  it 
was  not  possible  that  he  should  be 
holden  of  it  (Acts  2  :  24).  To  the 
narrative  of  this  stupendous  but 
thoroughly  attested  fact  we  are  now 
to  turn  our  attention.  Matthew's 
report  of  what  occurred  between  the 
resurrection  and  the  ascension  is 
brief.  It  omits  much  which  is  found 
in  the  other  gospels.  Except  so  far 
as  is  necessary  to  the  correct  un- 
derstanding of  Matthew's  report,  no 
attempt  will  here  be  made  to  remove 
apparent  discrepancies  with  those 
which  follow.  Difficulties  which 
may  arise  hereafter  will  be  consid- 
ered in  the  appropriate  place. 

1.  The  end  of  the  Sabbath — The 
Jewish  Sabbath,  our  Saturday. 
This  closed  at  sunset,  but  the 
phrase,  the  end  of  the  Sabbath, 
must  not  he  too  strictly  interpreted. 
After  the  Sabbath  ia  doubtless  the 
meaning.  It  does  not  necessarily 
imply  that  they  went  immediately 
after  sunset.  The  expression  is  evi- 
dently intended  by  Matthew, himself 
to  be  limited  by  the  next  clause. 
They  went  as  it  was  dawning  into 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  our  Sun- 
day, now  and  long  known  as  the 
Christian  Sabbath.    The  other  Mary 


lightning,    and    his    raiment 
white  as  snow  : 

4  And  for  fear  of  him  the 
keepers  did  shake,  and  became 
as  dead  men. 

5  And  the  angel  answered 
and  said  unto  the  women,  Fear 
not  ye  :  for  I  know  that  ye  seek 
Jesus,  which  was  crucified. 

6  He  is  not  here :  for  he  is 


— These  two  Marys  are  not  the  only 
women  which  went.  See  Mark  16  : 
1 ;  Luke  23  :  55,  compared  with  24  : 
1.  To  see  the  sepulchre — Their  spe- 
cial object  was  to  anoint  the  body 
(Mark  16  :  1). 

2.  The  angel — An  angel.  There 
are  tens  of  thousands  of  angels; 
this  was  one  of  them.  Rolled  back 
the  stone — Not  to  let  the  women  in, 
but  to  let  Jesus  go  out.  The  stone 
was  rolled  away  before  the  women 
arrived.  Some  hold  that  Jesus  left 
the  sepulchre  before  the  stone  was 
removed ;  but  this  makes  a  miracle 
where  the  Bible  makes  none.  Jo- 
seph of  Arimathea  rolling  the  stone 
to  the  door  and  the  angel  rolling  it 
from  the  door  are  both  God's  agents. 
Sat  upon  it — It  is  not  said  that  he 
was  sitting  upon  it  when  the  women 
arrived.  The  stone  was  under  his 
control.  One  angel  is  more  than  a 
match  for  the  entire  military  power 
of  Rome  and  the  entire  ecclesiastical 
power  of  the  Jews.  The  gospel  of 
the  rationalists  :  Jesus  did  not  die ; 
or,  if  he  died,  he  is  dead  still. 

4.  The  keepers  did  shake — And 
these  are  the  men  by  whom  the 
priests  were  to  make  the  sepulchre 
secure ! 

5.  The  angel — If  it  is  the  angel 
referred  to  in  vs.  2,  it  would  appear 
that  he  must  have  gone  into  the 
sepulchre.  Compare  Mark  16 :  5. 
Fear  not  ye —  Ye  may  be  emphatic. 
Let  the  Roman  soldiers  fear. 

6.  As  he  said — These  pious  wom- 
en, and  even  the  apostles,  had 
strangely  lost  sight  of  this  part  of 


CHAPTER   XXVIII. 


321 


risen,  as  he  said.      Come,  see 
the  place  where  the  Lord  lay. 

7  And  go  quickly,  and  tell 
his  disciples  that  he  is  risen 
from  the  dead  ;  and,  behold,  he 
goeth  before  }^ou  into  Galilee  ; 
there  shall  ye  see  him :  lo,  I 
have  told  you. 

8  And  they  departed  quick- 
ly from  the  sepulchre,  with  fear 
and  great  joy  ;  and  did  run  to 
bring  his  disciples  wrord. 

A  %  And  as  they  went  to  tell 
his  disciples,  behold,  Jesus  met 
them,  saying,  All  hail!  And 
they  came  and  held  him  by  the 
feet,  and  worshipped  him. 


our  Lord's  teachings.  Come,  see — 
With  what  sweet  familiarity  the  an- 
gel addresses  them  !  He  seems  to 
stoop  and  point  them  to  the  niche  in 
the  tomb  where  the  body  had  lain. 

7.  Into  Galilee — But  after  I  am 
risen  again,  I  will  go  before  you  into 
Galilee  (26  :32).  Go  quickly— Work 
for  Christ  should  be  done  with 
promptness  and  dispatch. 

8.  Pear  and  great  joy — The  un- 
ion of  fear  with  great  joy  is  as  pos- 
sible as  the  union  of  sorrow  with 
joy;  and  Paul  says,  Sorrowful,  yet 
always  rejoicing.  Did  run — If 
Christians  of  our  times  would  study 
more  critically  the  narratives  of  the 
Saviour's  life,  especially  those  parts 
which  pertain  to  his  passion  and  his 
resurrection,  their  views  of  Christ 
would  attain  such  freshness  that 
they,  too,  would  run  to  communi- 
cate to  others  what  they  have 
learned.  The  study  of  Christ's  suf- 
ferings and  resurrection  is  a  tonic 
for  weak  disciples. 

9.  Met  them  —  Women  had  the 
honor  of  seeing  him  first.  Mary  Mag- 
dalene is  not  included.  See  John 
20  :  11-18.  Hail— A  term  of  salu- 
tation nearly  equivalent  to  rejoice. 
Held  him  by  the  feet — They  were  so 

29* 


10  Then  said  Jesus  unto 
them,  Be  not  afraid :  go  tell 
my  brethren  that  they  go  into 
Galilee,  and  there  shall  they 
see  me. 

11  ^f  Now  when  they  were 
going,  behold,  some  of  the 
watch  came  into  the  city,  and 
shewed  unto  the  chief  priests 
all  the  things  that  were  done, 

12  And  when  they  were  as- 
sembled with  the  elders,  and 
had  taken  counsel,  they  gave 
large  money  unto  the  soldiers, 

13  Saying,  Say  ye,  His  dis- 
ciples came  by  night,  and  stole 
him  away  while  we  slept. 


overcome  with  mingled  awe  and  joy 
that  they  immediately  prostrated 
themselves  at  his  feet,  and  wor- 
shipped him,  rendered  him  divine 
honor;  that  is,  honored  him  as  a 
divine  being,  as  the  Messiah. 

10.  Go  tell  my  brethren — Jesus 
reveals  himself  to  the  women,  and 
the  women  must  tell  the  men,  "but 
not  on  that  account  must  the  women 
exalt  themselves  into  apostles." 
Brethren — The  apostles  and  the  dis- 
ciples generally.  Galilee  must  be  the 
place  of  meeting  after  the  passover- 
feast  is  ended.  Some  of  them  will 
see  him  before. 

11.  Showed — Reported.  All  the 
things — The  guards  may  not  have 
seen  him  rise,  but  they  had  seen  the 
quaking  of  the  earth  and  the  rolling 
back  of  the  stone  by  the  angel ;  and 
what  they  reported  awakened  in 
Pharisees  and  priests  the  appalling 
conviction  that  Jesus  had  risen. 

12, 13.  Assembled — The  facts  were 
such  that  it  would  have  been  much 
more  surprising  if  they  had  not 
called  a  meeting  of  the  Sanhedrim 
than  it  is  that  they  did  call  one. 
Two  courses  are  possible  :  they  may 
cither  deny  that  he  died ;  or,  they 
may  give   currency  to  the  notion 


322 


MATTHEW. 


14  And  if  this  come  to  the 
governor's  ears,  we  will  per- 
suade him,  and  secure  you. 

15  So  they  took  the  money, 
and  did  as  they  were  taught : 
and  this  saying  is  commonly 
reported  among  the  Jews  until 
this  day. 


that  his  body  had  been  stolen  by  his 
disciples  while  the  guards  were 
steeping.  If  they  do  the  former  they 
vill  make  themselves  either  fools  or 
knaves,— foots,  for  making  the  mis- 
take of  supposing  he  was  dead  when 
he  was  not;  knaves,  for  imposing  on 
Pilate.  If  they  do  the  latter,  they 
will  make  themselves  both  fools  and 
knaves, — fools,  for  not  seeing  the 
worthlessness  of  the  testimony  of 
sleeping  men;  knaves,  for  bribing 
men  to  tell  a  stupendous  lie.  They 
conclude  to  do  the  latter ;  that  is, 
they  decide  to  do  what  will  make 
them  both  knaves  and  fools, — which 
very  few  human  beings  are  at  the 
same  time. 

14.  If  this  come — The  meaning  is 
not,  if  he  should  happen  to  hear  of 
it,  but,  if  the  affair  should  be  brought 
before  him  for  official  investigation. 

Will  persuade — Will  satisfy.  Secure 
you — Save  you  from  all  trouble. 

15.  Took  the  money — Fifteen  dol- 
lars was  paid  to  Judas  for  the  sake 
of  getting  him;  a  "large"  sum  (vs. 
12)  to  the  soldiers  for  the  purpose 
of  saving  themselves  from  the  dis- 
grace of  losing  their  end.  Common- 
ly reported  .  .  .  until  this  day — 
About  thirty  years  had  passed. 

16.  The  eleven  disciples — This  new 
phrase  is  mournfully  suggestive.  A 
mountain — The  mountain.  It  is 
useless  to  speculate  concerning  what 
mountain  it  was.  The  eleven  are 
not  mentioned  to  the  exclusion  of 
the  women  and  many  others. 

17.  Somedoubted — It  is  not  neces- 
sary to  suppose  that  it  was  any  of 
the  apostles  that  doubted.  They  had 
all  seen  him  before.     Even  Thomas 


1 6  Then  the  eleven  disciples 
went  away  into  Galilee,  into  a 
mountain  where  Jesus  had  ap- 
pointed them. 

17  And  when  they  saw  him, 
they  worshipped  him  :  but  some 
doubted. 

18  And    Jesus    came   and 


had  seen  him  and  believed.  Paul 
(1  Cor.  15  :  6)  says  that  he  was  seen 
of  above  five  hundred  brethren  at 
once ;  and  there  is  no  good  reason 
to  doubt  that  this  is  the  occasiei.  to 
which  he  refers.  The  news  that  he 
had  come  to  Galilee  must  have 
spread  very  rapidly,  and  a  great 
many  of  his  disciples  would  desire 
to  be  present,  most  of  whom,  prob- 
ably, had  never  seen  him  since  his 
resurrection. 

18.  And  Jesus  came — Came  near- 
er to  them,  that  all  might  distinctly 
hear  the  important  words  which  he 
was  about  to  utter.  All  power — 
This  is  connected  in  sense  with  in 
heaven  and  in  earth:  All  power  in 
heaven  and  in  earth,  that  is,  through- 
out the  universe.  Is  given  unto  me 
— The  Word  had  all  power  before 
he  was  made  flesh.  He  was  God. 
John  1 :  1.  All  things  were  made 
by  him.  John  1 :  3.  All  power  is 
given  to  him,  therefore,  as  the  Mes- 
siah. The  words,  is  given,  are  not 
contradictory,  then,  to  that  class  of 
texts  which  represent  him  as  hav- 
ing all  power  before,  as  the  Word, 
he  was  made  flesh.  Besides,  as  Dr. 
J.  J.  Owen  remarks,  "it  might  ad- 
mit of  some  question  whether  such 
power  as  is  here  referred  to  could 
be  conferred  upon  or  exercised  by  a 
created  being,  inasmuch  as  in  effect 
it  raises  him  to  an  equality  with 
God."  It  may  also  be  represented 
as  follows  :  Christ  cannot  exercise 
power  to  bring  men  into  union  Avith 
God,  to  found  a  church,  and  to  bring 
men  of  all  nations  into  it,  indepen- 
dently of  the  Father.  Between  the 
Father  and  the  S  ->n  there  is  co-op- 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 


323 


spake  unto  them,  saying,  All 
power  is  given  unto  me  in 
heaven  and  in  earth. 


eration.  But  between  such  a  sup- 
position and  the  supposition  that 
Christ  was  God,  there  is  no  possible 
contradiction.  Nay,  such  exalted 
and  perfect  co-operation  implies  the 
equality  of  the  two.  An  admirable 
expression  of  the  fact  that  all  poAvur 
is  given  him  is  found  in  Dan.  7  :  14  ; 
Eph.  1 :  20-22.  In  Col.  2  :  10,  Christ 
is  called  the  head  of  all  principality 
and  power.  How  sublime  the  utter- 
ance !  All  power !  A  few  days 
before  he  was  apparently  the  most 
helpless  of  beings. 

19.  "Reluctant  as  we  may  feel  to 
enter  upon  the  discussion  of  contro- 
verted points, — on  which  the  pro- 
foundest  scholars,  most  acute  think- 
ers, and  Christians  of  unquestioned 
piety  and  sincerity  have  taken  op- 
posite sides,  and  on  which  volumes 
after  volumes  have  been  written 
without  effecting,  in  general,  a  radi- 
cal change  of  previous  conviction  on 
the  subject, — nevertheless  the  doc- 
trinal character  of  this  Commentary 
imperatively  demands  an  answer  to 
two  questions  :  1.  Is  infant  baptism 
scriptural?  2.  Does  the  Greek  word 
baptizein  mean  exclusively  to  im- 
merse, or  is  the  administration  of 
baptism  by  other  modes  of  applying 
the  water  in  this  ordinance  consis- 
tent with  the  legitimate  meaning  of 
this  Greek  verb?" 

Such  is  the  opening  of  a  "Disser- 
tation on  Christian  Baptism"  by  Dr. 
William  Nast  (Methodist),  at  the 
close  of  his  Commentary  on  Mat- 
thew. Mr.  Barnes,  Dr.  J.  J.  Owen 
(Presbyterian),  and  Dr.  Whedon 
(Methodist),  all  enter  more  or  less 
deeply  in  their  respective  Commen- 
taries into  the  same  subject.  As  in- 
terpreters of  the  Bible  it  was  their 
duty  to  do  so.  The  writer  of  the 
present  volume  has  no  desire  to  be 
excused  from  doing  likewise. 

As   preliminary  to  the  examina- 


19  %  Go  ye  therefore,  and 
teach  all  nations,  baptizing 
them  in  the  name  of  the  Fa- 


tion,  it  should  be  remarked  that 
teach  (vs.  19)  and  teaching  (vs.  20), 
though  seeming  to  the  English  read- 
er to  represent  the  same  Greek 
word,  do  in  fact  represent  very  dif- 
ferent words.  All  scholars  are 
agreed  that  teach  is  not  the  true  ren- 
dering, while  teaching  in  vs.  20  is 
correct.  The  Greek  means  make 
disciples  of,  or,  in  a  shorter  form, 
disciple. 

First.  Before  touching  the  mean- 
ing of  the  Greek  word  rendered  oap- 
tizing.  tie  question  arises,  What  is 
the  relation  or  the  three  acts  to  one 
another,  —  discipling,  baptizing, 
teaching?  1.  Does  this  order  of  the 
words  prove  that  there  should  be 
corresponding  order  in  the  acts?  or, 
is  the  order  of  the  acts  immaterial? 
Supposing  the  three  acts  to  have 
been  expressed  thus  :  Go  ye,  there- 
fore, and  having  baptized  all  na- 
tions, disciple  them,  and  teach  them 
to  observe,  etc.,  it  would  have  been 
perfectly  clear  that  baptizing  should 
be  first  in  the  series.  That  would 
have  been  authority  enough  for  bap- 
tizing unregenerate  persons.  But 
such  is  not  the  order  of  the  words, 
and  if  the  order  of  the  words  is 
worth  anything  as  a  guide  to  the 
order  of  the  acts,  then  the  first  act 
should  be  discipling,  the  second  bap- 
tizing, the  third  teaching.  2.  No- 
tice the  tense  of  the  participle.  It  is 
not,  having  baptized,  which  might, 
perhaps,  imply  that  the  baptizing 
was  to  precede  the  discipling,  but 
it  is  baptizing.  All  this  is  very 
clear  in  the  Greek;  and  even  if  the 
reader  is  not  acquainted  with  the 
original,  it  may  be  well  to  remark 
that  a  feeble  effort  has  been  made  to 
show  that  the  true  reading  of  the 
Greek  is  in  that  tense  which  would 
have  required  the  rendering,  having 
baptized.  Could  this  effort  have 
been  made  successful,  it  might,  per- 


zu 


MATTHEW. 


ther,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of 
the  Holy  Ghost : 


haps,  have  thrown  baptism  back  of 
discipleship,  and  therefore  have  jus- 
tified us  in  baptizing  unregenerate 
persons.  But,  according  to  all  re- 
cent critical  editions  of  the  Greek 
Testament,  the  point  must  be  con- 
sidered as  settled  that  the  present J 
participle  is  the  true  reading.  Nei- 
ther the  order  of  the  words,  then, 
nor  the  tenses  of  the  participle,  per- 
mit us  to  regard  our  Lord  as  requir- 
ing us  to  baptize  men  before  they 
have  been  made  disciples.  3.  If  we 
now  turn  to  John  4  :  1,  we  find  words 
which  are  in  remarkable^orrespond- 
ence  with  those  before  us  :  When 
therefore  the  Lord  knew  how  the 
Pharisees  had  heard  that  Jesus  made 
and  baptized  more  disciples  than 
John.  Here  are  two  acts  precisely 
corresponding  with  the  first  two  of 
the  series  which  we  are  examining  : 
1.  Made;  2.  Baptized.  What  did 
Jesus  make?  Disciples.  Whom 
did  he  baptize  ?  The  disciples  that 
he  had  made.  Jesus,  then,  did  not 
intentionally  baptize  unregenerate 
persons  and  then  make  them  disci- 
ples. Not  one  case  of  the  kind  is 
recorded.  His  practice  was  first  to 
make  disciples  and  then  to  baptize 
them.  In  consigning  to  his  disci- 
ples the  work  of  extending  his  king- 
dom through  the  world,  he  -com- 
manded them  to  proceed  in  the  same 
way:  1.  Disciple;  2.  Baptize.  If 
this  is  not  the  order  which  he  re- 
quires, he  requires  them  to  go  di- 
rectly contrary  to  his  own  practice. 
4.  That  this  order  is  the  one  in- 
tended by  our  Lord  is  also  evident 
from  Mark  16 :  15,  1G :  Go  ye  into 
all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel 
to  every  creature.  He  that  believeth 
and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved. 
Here  is  the  same  order :  1.  Preach ; 

1  Teschendorf  has  given  up  the  reading 
baptisantes — having  baptized — and  in  his 
eighth  edition,  now  going  through  the 
German  press,  has  baptizontes. 


20   Teaching    them   to    ob- 
serve all  thinsrs  whatsoever  I 


2.  Believe  ;  3.  Be  baptized.  On  this 
verse  Dr.  Lange  (not  a  BaptisO 
says  :  "  Baptism  is  not  named  along 
with  faith  as  in  itself  an  indispensa- 
ble matter,  but  as  the  natural,  cer- 
tainly, also,  necessary  consequence 
of  faith  ;  because  baptism  indicates 
the  entering  of  the  believer  into  the 
communion  of  the  belie vingchurch." 
Even  Dr.  Nast  says  upon  the  same 
verse:  "It  cannot  be  denied  that 
we  find,  in  the  recorded  practice  of 
the  apostles,  faith  uniformly  preced- 
ing baptism,"  but  he  cannot  think 
that  this  warrants  "  the  conclusion 
of  the  Baptists,  that  only  converted 
and  regenerate  persons  may  be  re- 
ceived into  the  church  by  baptism." 

Inferences  from  the  above. — 
1.  A  church,  consisting  of  both  re 
generate  and  unregenerate  persons, 
the  latter  brought  into  the  church, 
not,  as  was  Simon  Magus,  through 
inability  to  discern  the  hypocrisy  or 
the  self-deception  of  the  applicants, 
but  systematically  through  deliber- 
ate intention  to  bring  them  in, — such 
a  church  is  not  formed  after  the 
model  given  in  the  New  Testament ; 
and  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  such 
a  body  can  with  any  propriety  be 
called  a  Christian  church.  When 
the  system  is  carried  to  its  legiti- 
mate extreme,  as  in  the  Koman 
Catholic  Church  and  the  Greek 
Church,  the  departure  from  the 
primitive  church  is  so  great,  that 
such  bodies  are  utterly  unworthy  to 
be  regarded  as  in  any  sense  Chris- 
tian churches.  2.  Infants,  of  whom 
neither  hypocrisy  nor  self-deception 
can  be  affirmed,  are  not  fit  subjects 
of  baptism.  They  cannot  believe, 
that  is,  they  cannot  be  discipled ; 
therefore  they  ought  not  to  be  bap- 
tized. Believing  is  exclusively  the 
act  of  the  person  that  believes; 
therefore  just  as  the  faith  of  a  man 
cannot  also  be  the  faith  of  his  wife, 


CHAPTER   XXVIII. 


325 


have    commanded    you :    and, 
lo,    I    am    with    you     alway, 


cannot  become  hers,  can  in  no  sense 
be  reckoned  to  her  benefit,  so  the 
faitli  of  the  parent  can  in  no  sense 
be  passed  over  to  the  advantage  of 
his  infant  child.  The  human  being 
that  dies  in  infancy  will  be  saved, 
there  is  good  reason  to  believe,  but 
not  through  faith.  He  will  be  saved 
by  virtue  of  the  atonement ;  and  the 
mere  fact  that  Christ  has  made  an 
atonement  which  may  avail  for  dy- 
ing infants  is  not  a  reason  why  in- 
fants should  be  baptized.  3.  That 
male  infants  were  circumcised  is,  in 
view  of  the  commission  contained  in 
these  last  two  verses  of  Matthew,  no 
proof  that  female  infants  or  even 
male  infants  should  be  baptized. 
As  the  distinguished  German  schol- 
ar, J.  Jacobi,  "a  dear  friend"  of 
the  German  historian,  Neander,  nei- 
ther of  whom  was  a  Baptist,  says, 
''There  was  no  necessity  for  ex- 
cluding them  in  plain  words,  since 
such  exclusion  was  understood  as  a 
matter  of  course."  That  infants  be- 
came by  circumcision  members  of 
what  has  very  improperly  been  called 
the  "Jewish  Church,"  and  would 
therefore  naturally  be  considered  as 
entitled  to  the  privilege  of  member- 
ship by  baptism  in  the  Christian 
Church,  is  with  some  an  argument 
of  great  strength.  This  is  the  basis 
of  Dr.  Nast's  defence  of  infant  bap- 
tism, though  many  who  defend  the 
rite  consider  this  line  of  defence  as 
worthless.  Noah,  Abraham,  Moses, 
Isaiah,  Daniel,  and  other  good  men, 
belonged  to  the  invisible  church, 
which  was  wholly  an  unorganized 
body ;  but  the  idea  that  the  Jewish 
people,  the  overwhelming  majority 
of  whom  were  so  wicked  as  to  call 
for  the  most  signal  rebukes  and  the 
severest  chastisements,  were  a 
church,  in  any  such  sense  that  visi- 
ble, organized  Christian  churches 
can  be  said  to  be  a  continuation  of 
it,  is  an  idea  which  has  no  founda- 
tion in  the  Scriptures.  This  is  he 
28 


even  unto  the  end  of  the  world 
Amen. 

that  was  in  the  church  in  the  wilder- 
ness (Acts  7:  38),  is  the  only  pas- 
sage in  the  entire  New  Testament 
in  which  King  James'  translators 
call  the  Jewish  people  a  church ; 
and  here,  as  eminent  critics  hold, 
the  Greek  ought  to  have  been  ren- 
dered congregation.  The  Hebrew 
nation  was  indeed  a  peculiarly  con- 
stituted nation,  enjoying,  for  many 
years,  God's  special  protection  for  a 
special  end,  and  for  that  reason  was 
called  the  people  of  God;  but  the 
Hebrew  nation  was  not  a  church. 
"Circumcision,"  says  Rev.  T.  T. 
Perowne  (Episcopalian),  "was 
made  a  necessary  condition  of  Jew- 
ish nationality."  On  the  other  hand, 
a  Christian  church  in  the  days  of  the 
apostles  was  ' '  a  body  of  baptizod  men 
and  women  who  believed  in  Jesus 
as  the  Christ,  and  in  the  revelation 
made  by  him,  who  were  united  by 
having  the  same  faith,  hope,  and 
animating  spirit  of  love,  the  same 
sacraments,  and  the  same  invisible 
Head." — Rev.  F.  Meijrick  (Episco- 
palian). 

Secondly.  Baptizing  them  — 
What  is  the  act  here  enjoined? 
Baptize  is  a  good  English  word,  but 
was  derived  from  the  Greek  word, 
baptizein.  Assuming  that  in  the 
earlier  history  of  the  word,  to  bap- 
tize meant  to  immerse,  to  dip,  and 
meant  nothing  else,  it  is  impossible 
to  regard  that  as  its  only  acknowl- 
edged meaning  now.  Webster  de- 
fines it  thus:  "To  administer  the 
sacrament  of  baptism ;  to  christen." 
To  christen  is  defined,  "To  baptize, 
or  rather  to  baptize  and  name."  Wor- 
cester :  "To  administer  baptism  to ; 
to  immerse  in  water,  or  to  sprinkle 
in  water;  to  christen."  The  same 
lexicographer  defines  baptism  as  "a 
Christian  rite  performed  by  immer- 
sion, ablution,  or  sprinkling."  To 
learn,  then,  what  our  Lord  meant 
when  he   said,  baptizing  them,  we 


326 


MATTHEW. 


must    have    recourse    to   whatever 
means  of  information  we  can  obtain 

relative  to  the  original  word  itself. 

AY  hat.  then,  does  the  Greek  word, 
baptizein,  mean  ?  But  in  what  man- 
ner is  the  true  answer  to  be  ob- 
tained ? 

1.  By  examining  all  the  passages 
in  all  the  Greek  hooks  in  which  the 
word  is  used  with  no  reference  to 
the  Christian  rite.  Until  the  pres- 
ent century  this  was  never  thorough- 
ly done.  The  leader  in  this  kind 
of  investigation  was  Dr.  Alexander 
Carson,  a  native  of  Ireland,  once  a 
Presbyterian  and  afterward  a  Bap- 
tist. "A  complete  historical  exhi- 
bition of  its  use,  both  in  pagan  and 
Christian  literature,"  has  been  made 
by  Dr.  T.  J.  Conant,  of  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y.  Not  one  known  sentence  con- 
taining the  Greek  word  lias  been  left 
out  of  consideration.  The  entire 
number  of  sentences  examined  in 
which  the  word  is  used  with  no  ref- 
erence to  the  Christian  rite  is  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five.  "  These 
examples,"  says  Dr.  Conant,  "are 
drawn  from  writers  in  almost  every 
department  of  literature  and  sci- 
ence; from  poets,  rhetoricians,  phi- 
losophers, critics,  historians,  geog- 
raphers ;  from  writers  on  husbandry, 
on  medicine,  on  natural  history,  on 
grammar,  on  theology ;  from  almost 
every  form  and  style  of  composition, 
romances,  epistles,  orations,  fables, 
odes,  epigrams,  sermons,  narratives  ; 
from  writers  of  various  nations  and 
religions,  Pagan,  Jew,  and  Chris- 
tian, belonging  to  many  different 
countries,  and  through  a  long  suc- 
cession of  ages.  In  all,  the  word 
has  retained  its  ground-meaning" 
[to  immerse,  to  dip,  to  plunge,  to 
imbathe,  to  whelm]  "without 
change.  Prom  the  earliest  age  of 
Greek  literature  down  to  its  close 
(a  period  of  about  two  thousand 
years),  not  an  example  has  been 
found  in  which  the  word  has  any 
other  meaning.  There  is  no  instance 
in  which  it  signifies  to  make  a  par- 
tial application  of  water  by  affusion 


or  sprinkling,  or  to  cleanse,  to  pu* 
rifyj  apart  from  the  literal  act  of 
immersion  as  the  means  of  cleans- 
ing or  purifying." 

2.  To  ascertain  what  the  Greek 
word  baptizein  means,  one  may  al- 
so examine  its  use  by  the  Church 
Fathers  with  reference  to  the  Chris- 
tian rite,  including  those  who,  writ- 
ing in  the  Latin  language,  used  such 
a  Latin  word  (one  meaning  to  im- 
merse) as  proves  that  they  consid- 
ered the  Greek  word  as  meaning  to 
immerse.  This  examination  has  al- 
so been  made  by  Dr.  Conant, — six- 
ty-one passages  havirtg  passed  under 
his  review ;  and  from  this  examina- 
tion it  "appears  that  the  Christian 
Fathers  "  [men  who  wrote  within  a 
few  hundred  years  after  the  apos- 
tles themselves]  "understood  this 
word  in  its  ordinary,  established  sig- 
nification in  the  Greek  language," — 
to  immerse. 

3.  Nor  ought  the  practice  of  the 
Greek  Church,  which  extends  over 
Greece  and  the  vast  empire  of  Rus- 
sia, of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
and  the  Church  of  England  (Epis- 
copalian), to  be  left  out  of  the  inves- 
tigation. That  practice  shows  that 
nearly  the  entire  Christian  world 
has  understood  baptizein  as  mean- 
ing to  immerse. 

The  Church  of  England.  —The 
Book  of  Common  Prayer,  published 
in  London  in  the  reign  of  Edward 
VI.,  1540,  requires  the  child  to  be 
dipped.  It  gives  no  authority  to 
sprinkle,  but  grants  permission,  "if 
the  child  is  weak,"  "to pour  water 
upon  it."  Going  back  seven  hun- 
dred years,  we  find  that  the  Church 
of  England  forbade  even  pouring. 
The  rule  was  as  follows  :  "Let  the 
presbyters  also  know,  when  they 
administer  the  holy  baptism,  that 
they  may  not  pour  the  holy  water 
over  the  infants'  head,  but  let  them 
always  be  immersed  in  the  font ;  as 

1  The  meaning  assigned  to  it  by  Dr. 
Edward  lieecher,  the  thing  symbolized, 
jmrification,  being  confounded  with  the 
act,  immersion,  by  which  it  is  symbolized. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 


327 


the  Son  of  God  furnished  by  him- 
self an  example  to  every  believer 
when  he  was  thrice  immersed  in  the 
waves  of  the  Jordan." — Lingard's 
Hi  story. 

The  Roman  Catholic  Church. — 
The  former  practice  of  this  body 
leads  to  the  same  result.  The  Or- 
der of  Sacraments  composed  by 
Pope  Gregory  I.,  in  the  sixth  cen- 
tury, required  immersion. 

The  practice  of  these  two  church- 
es, as  is  well  known,  has  changed, 
sprinkling  having  gradually  usurped 
the  place  once  held  by  immersion. 
The  change  is  frankly  acknowledged 
by  eminent  scholars  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  and  in  the  Church 
of  England,  and  b)'  many  of  them  is 
sincerely  regretted. 

The  Greek  Church. — The  modern 
Greek  language  is  essentially  the 
same  as  the  ancient  Greek;  and 
surely  the  Greeks  know  the  mean- 
ing of  baptizo,  as  well,  to  say  the 
least,  as  others.  But  before  we  pro- 
ceed to  show  what  are  the  senti- 
ments of  the  Greek  Church  relative 
to  the  mode  of  baptism,  we  present 
the  following  remarkable  statement, 
made  by  Dr.  Nast  in  his  "Disserta- 
tion on  Christian  Baptism":  "To 
this  very  day  baptism  is  adminis- 
tered by  pouring,  not  only  in  the 
whole  Greek  Church,  but  also  in  the 
churches  of  Asia  Minor."  In  the 
Appendix  of  a  volume  x  written  by 
Rev.  William  Goodell,  Missionary 
in  Constantinople  of  The  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
Missions,  is  the  Order  of  Exercises 
at  a  Greek  Baptism,  as  witnessed  by 
Rev.  Mr.  Riggs,  in  Smyrna,  April 
21,  1851  (Easter  Monday).  The 
Order  embraces  seventeen  articles, 
the  eleventh  of  which  is  as  follows  : 

"11.  The  baptism.  The  priest 
taking  the  infant,  perfectly  naked, 
into  his  hands,  and  holding  it  over 
the  font,  said,  '  The  Servant  of  God, 
Iphigenia,  i3  baptized '  (placing  it 
in  the  water  which  reached  up  to  its 

i  The  Old  and  the  New ;  or,  the  Changes 
bt  Thirty  Years  in  the  East.    1P53. 


neck,  and  thrice  taking  up  water 
with  his  right  hand  and  pouring  up- 
on the  child's  head),  'in  the  name 
of  the  Father'  (then  lifting  the  child 
up,  and  again  placing  it  in  the  wa- 
ter and  repeating  the  affusion  as  be- 
fore), 'and  of  the  Son'  (same  move- 
ment repeated),  'and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  now  and  ever,  even  forever 
and  ever.     Amen.'" 

"I  have  witnessed  this  ceremo- 
ny," says  Mr.  Riggs  in  a  note,  "a 
number  of  times,  and  in  no  instance 
was  the  whole  body  of  the  person 
baptized  immersed  in  the  water." 

Rev.  Mr.  Riggs  is  a  credible  wit- 
ness. How  much  is  proved  by  his 
testimony  ? 

1.  That  the  creed  of  the  Greek 
Church  is  in  favor  of  sprinkling  and 
opposed  to  immersion?  For  the 
means  of  answering  this  question, 
the  author  is  indebted  partly  to  A. 
N.  Arnold,  D.D.,  Professor  in  the 
Theological  Seminary  of  Chicago, 
who  kindly  communicated  facts  in 
reply  to  a  letter  of  inquiry.  Dr. 
Arnold  resided  in  Greece  as  a  Mis- 
sionary more  than  eleven  years. 

a.  In  the  Office  for  Baptism,  in 
the  Greek  Service  Book,  or  Eucho- 
logion,  the  rubric  says,  "and  when 
the  whole  body  has  been  anointed 
(ears,  feet,  and  hands,  besides  the 
fore-mentioned  parts)  the  priest  bap- 
tizes him,  holding  him  upright,  and 
facing  toward  the  East,  saying, 
'  the  servant  of  the  Lord  [naming 
him]  is  baptized  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,'  etc.,  etc.,  sinking  him  and 
raising  him  at  the  utterance  of  each 
name." 

b.  In  the  Commentary  on  Apos- 
tolical Canons  XL VI.  and  XLVII. 
[Canons  of  the  General  Councils  re- 
ceived by  the  Greek  Church],  pour- 
ing and  sprinkling  are  repeatedly 
characterized  as  "pseudo-baptism," 
false  baptism. 

c.  In  1848  there  appeared  in  the 
modern  Greek  language  an  Encycli- 
cal Letter  which  was  issued  by  a 
Synod  of  the  Greek  Church.  The 
Synod,  called  by  the  Patriarch  of 


28 


MATTHEW. 


Constantinople,  was  composed  of 
four  Patriarchs,  and  about  thirty 
archbishops  and  bishops.  In  this 
high  official  document,  the  most  au- 
thoritative, perhaps,  on  the  doctrine 
and  practice  of  the  Greek  Church 
of  any  declaration  that  has  been 
made  in  our  day,  the  practice  of  the 
Romish  Church  in  baptism  is  char- 
acterized as  an  innovation,  a  de- 
parture from  the  apostolic  form,  a 
substitution  of  sprinkling  in  place 
of  baptism,  a  making  superfluous 
the  baptism  which  the  Lord  deliv- 
ered to  the  Church. 

d.  On  the  eighth  of  October,  1851 
(only  six  months,  let  it  be  observed, 
from  the  time  Mr.  Riggs  witnessed 
the  administration  of  baptism  as  de- 
scribed above,  and  after  it),  Rev. 
William  Palmer  appeared  before  the 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  who 
was  surrounded  by  a  company  of 
bishops,  constituting  what  is  called 
Lesser  Synod  or  Council.  The  real 
question  was  whether  he,  who  had 
only  been  sprinkled,  could  be  ad- 
mitted as  a  member  of  the  Greek 
Church.  The  Patriarch  spoke  as 
follows:  '•There  is  only  one  bap- 
tism :  if  some  others  allow  a  differ- 
ent one  we  know  nothing  of  it,  we 
do  not  accept  it.  Our  Church  knows 
only  one  baptism,  and  this  without 
any  subtraction,  or  addition,  or  al- 
teration whatever.  To  this  the 
bishops  gave  assent. 

e.  Dr.  Arnold  affirms  that  during 
his  residence  among  the  Greeks  he 
never  heard  the  slightest  intimation 
of  any  diversity  of  views  among 
them  relative  to  the  mode  of  bap- 
tism, except  on  this  one  point : 
The  National  Greek  Church  of  Rus- 
sia has  for  two  centuries  received 
converts  from  the  Catholic  Church 
and  Trinitarian  Protestants,  without 
re-baptism,  only  giving  them  the 
chrism,  which  corresponds  to  con- 
firmation. This  concession  was 
made  only  after  a  long  and  stormy 
discussion. 

These  facts  prove  that  Mr.  Riggs' 
testimony  is  no  evidence  whatever 


that  the  creed  of  the  Greek  Church  is 
in  favor  of  sprinkling  and  opposed  to 
immersion.  What  has  so  often  been 
affirmed,  that  the  Greek  Church,  in 
its  written  formularies,  recognizes 
nothing  as  baptism  but  immersion, 
remains  unshaken. 

2.  Does  Mr.  Riggs'  testimony 
prove  that  the  Greek  Church  prac- 
tises sprinkling,  or  even  pouring, 
thus  violating  its  own  canons  ?  Mr. 
Riggs  testifies  that  he  has  seen  a 
Greek  priest  put  a  naked  infant  in 
the  water  up  to  its  neck  three  times, 
saying  in  the  first  instance,  The 
servant  of  God  is  baptized,  and  each 
time  pouring  water  thrice  from  his 
hand  upon  the  child's  head.  Here, 
plainly,  was  no  sprinkling  for  bap- 
tism ;  no  pouring  for  baptism.  The 
baptism  was  the  immersion  of  the 
child  to  its  neck,  and  because  the 
priest  knew  that  that  was  not  an  ex- 
act compliance  with  the  canons  of 
his  church,  he  "  helped  out  the  im- 
mersion, in  respect  to  the  defect,  by 
an  act  more  or  less  nearly  resem- 
bling an  affusion.  To  say  that  this 
was  baptism  by  affusion,  or  was  in- 
tended to  be  such  by  the  adminis- 
trator, is  to  pervert  language  and 
misrepresent  facts."  1  As  Dr.  Arnold ' 
freely  admits,  the  Greeks  are  not  al- 
ways punctilious  about  the  absolute 
totality  of  the  submersion  in  bap- 
tism, but  that  they  either  sprinkle  or 
pour  for  baptism  is  not  shown  by  the 
testimony  of  Mr.  Riggs.  Dr.  Nast's 
statement  that  the  whole  Greek 
Church  has  to  this  very  day  admin- 
istered baptism  by  pouring  may 
have  been  based  upon  Mr.  Riggs' 
and  other  similar  representations. 

"To  this  form"  [immersion], 
says  Dr.  Stanley  in  his  Lectures, 
"the  Eastern  Church  still  rigidly 
adheres ;  and  the  most  illustrious 
and  venerable  portion  of  it,  that  of 
the  Byzantine  empire,  absolutely 
repudiates  and  ignores  any  other 
mode  of  administration  as  essen- 
tially invalid."      McClintock    and 

1  Dr.  Arnold,  in  reply  to  a  letter  calling 
his  attention  to  Mr.  Riggs'  testimony, 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 


329 


Strong,  in  their  new  Cyclopaedia, 
say  :  "  The  Greek  Church  requires 
trine  immersion  in  its  rubrics,  but 
in  Russia  baptism  by  sprinkling  or 
affusion  is  regarded  as  equally  valid." 
No  authority  is  given  for  the  latter 
statement.  In  "Sketches  of  the 
Rites  and  Customs  of  the  Greco- 
Russian  Church,"  by  H.  C.  Roman- 
off, the  wife  of  a  Russian  officer,  it 
is  affirmed  that  "in  cases  of  extreme 
sickness,  sprinkling  or  pouring  of 
water  is  considered  sufficient."  But, 
as  a  writer  has  remarked,1  this  is 
contradicted  by  what  the  author 
says  on  a  subsequent  page:  "In 
the  event  of  a  child's  being  born  in  a 
hopeless  state,  or  of  its  becoming 
ill  so  suddenly  as  to  have  no  time 
for  sending  for  the  priest,  the  nurse, 
or  any  one  else,  may  legally  baptize 
it.  A  pure  vessel  is  procured,  and 
the  infant  is  immersed,  with  the  same 
words  as  those  used  by  the  priest." 
The  author's  representation  proves 
that  "baptism  by  sprinkling  or  af- 
fusion "  is  not  regarded  in  the  Rus- 
sian Greek  Church  as  "equally 
valid  "  with  immersion. 

"  The  invalidity  of  sprinkling," 
says  Dr.  Arnold,  "is  made  a  promi- 
nent point  in  the  controversial  writ- 
ings (the  latest  no  less  than  the 
earlier)  of  the  Greeks  against  the 
Latins  and  the  Protestants." 

We  add  the  testimony2  of  Dr. 
Galusha  Anderson,  Professor  of  Sa- 
cred Rhetoric  in  the  Newton  Theo- 
logical Institution:  "When  I  was 
at  Mar  Sabas,  I  visited  the  chapel  of 
the  baptistery.  This  baptistery  was 
circular,  about  four  feet  in  diameter 
and  five  feet  in  depth.  I  asked  the 
monk  who  was  our  guide  how  they 
baptized  infants.  Suiting  his  ac- 
tion to  his  word,  he  said  that  they 
plunged  them  into  the  water  all 
over.  When  I  was  in  Athens,  I 
heard  that  Dr.  King,  a  Congrega- 
tionalist,  immersed  infants,  not  ven- 
turing to  repeat  the  formula  of  bap- 

1  Baptist  Quarterly,  April. 

2  In  a  letter  to  the  author,  under  date 
of  Dec.  18,  1869. 

28* 


tism  before  an  Athenian  audience 
without  performing  the  act  so  evi- 
dently expressed  to  a  Greek  by  the 
word  baptizo  ;  and  that  he  had  im- 
mersed a  child  of  a  Greek  Congre- 
gational brother  who  has  an  Ameri- 
can wife,  only  a  few  days  before." 

In  accordance  with  both  the  can- 
ons and  the  practice  of  the  Greek 
Church,  Alexander  de  Stourdza, 
"  one  of  the  most  learned  of  all  the 
modern  apologists  for  the  Greek 
Church,"  affirms  that  the  word  bap- 
tizo has  only  one  signification ;  that 
it  means  literally  and  always  to 
plunge.  "Baptism  and  immersion," 
he  says,  "are  identical,  and  to  say 
baptism  by  sprinkling  is  as  though 
we  should  say  immersion  by  sprink- 
ling." 

The  practice,  then,  in  former 
times,  of  the  Church  of  England  and 
of  the  .Romish  Church,  and  espe- 
cially of  the  Greek  Church  even  to 
the  present  day,  shows  that  a  large 
portion  of  the  Christian  world  has 
understood  Jesus  Christ  as  meaning 
in  the  use  of  the  word  baptizein  that 
disciples  should  be  immersed. 

4.  That  this  is  exactly  what  Christ 
intended  is  also  evident  from  the 
connections  in  which  the  word  is 
found.  The  word  is  never  found  in 
such  connections  as  would  be  natu- 
ral if  it  means  to  sprinkle,  but  al- 
ways in  such  as  are  natural  if  it 
means  to  immerse.  For  example, 
it  is  used  in  connection  with  a  river 
and  with  much  water.  It  is  of 
course  not  impossible  that  one  was 
sprinkled  who  went  to  a  river,  or  to 
a  place  of  much  water.  It  is  not 
impossible  that  one  was  sprinkled 
who  went  as  Jesus  did  and  as  the 
eunuch  did  down  into  the  water. 
But  is  it  probable  ?  Is  it  natural  ? 
Is  it  at  all  common  for  men  and 
women  now  to  go  to  a  river  when 
they  are  to  be  only  sprinkled? 
What  might  possibly  have  been 
done,  is  not  the  question  which  a 
sincere  seeker  of  the  will  of  Christ 
would  ask.  Again,  in  the  words  of 
Dr.   Arnold,  in    the   "  Bibliotheca 


330 


MATTHEW. 


Sacra,"  January,  1869,  "persons 
are  always  said  to  be  baptized,  the 
element  never.  We  never  read,  '  A 
baptized  water  upon  B,'  but  always, 
i  A  baptized  B  in  water.'  We  never 
read,  'water  was  baptized  upon 
them,'  but  always,  '  they  were  bap- 
tized in  water  I '"  Substitute  in  the 
first  form  of  expression  the  word 
sprinkle  or  pour,  and  there  is  no 
unfitness  :  A  sprinkled,  poured,  wa- 
ter upon  B.  Substitute  these  words 
in  the  second  form :  A  sprinkled, 
poured,  B  in  the  water,  and  the  un- 
fitness is  immediately  seen.  Sub- 
stitute immerse  in  the  first  form, 
and  the  unfitness  is  equally  great : 
A  immersed  water  upon  B.  Sub- 
stitute immerse  in  the  second  form, 
and  there  is  no  unfitness :  A  im- 
mersed B  in  water.  Now  it  is  in 
the  latter  form  in  which  baptizein  is 
found  in  the  New  Testament.  The 
meaning  to  immerse  is,  therefore, 
entirely  fitting  in  the  connection  in 
which  the  Greek  word  is  used. 

5.  Baptism  is  symbolic  of  a  great 
spiritual  change;  namely,  death  to 
sin  and  resurrection  to  holiness. 
This  death  to  sin  resembles  Christ's 
burial,  and  this  resurrection  to  ho- 
liness resembles  Christ's  resurrec- 
tion. See  Rom.  6  :  3-5 ;  Col.  2  :  12. 
Is  there  appropriateness  in  sprink- 
ling as  a  symbol  of  these  great  facts  ? 
But  nothing  can  more  appropriately 
represent  these  facts  than  immer- 


As  baptism  is  to  follow  faith,  so 
partaking  of  the  Lord's  Supper  is  to 
follow  baptism.  The  Roman  Catho- 
lic Church,  the  Greek  Church,  the 
Lutheran  Church,  the  Church  of 
England,  the  Presbyterian  Church- 
es, and  the  Methodist  Churches,  re- 
gard baptism  as  properly  antecedent 
to  the  Lord's  Supper.  It  is  but  a 
very  small  portion  of  the  Christian 
world  that  denies  that  this  is  the 
true  relation  of  the  two  ordinances. 
The  unanimity  of  Christians  in  all 
ages  respecting  it  is  remarkable. 

1.  Baptism  is  supposed  to  follow 


the  act  of  faith  immediately  ;  that 
is,  assuming  that  a  man  has  actually 
believed  he  is  under  obligation  to 
be  immediately  baptized.  If  a  man, 
in  other  words,  has  been  buried  by 
the  Spirit  of  God  to  sin  and  been 
raised  to  holiness,  it  is  his  duty  to 
submit  at  once  to  the  rite  which 
symbolizes  those  acts.  This  would 
leave  no  room  for  the  observance 
of  the  other  great  rite  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion.  The  observance  of 
that  rite  between  the  act  of  believ- 
ing and  the  act  of  submitting  to  bap- 
tism is,  so  to  speak,  intentionally 
crowded  out  by  our  divine  Lord  him- 
self through  the  requirement  to  be 
baptized  as  the  next  step  after  be- 
lieving. The  Supper  must  be  ob- 
served, then,  either  before  believ- 
ing or  after  baptism.  The  former 
would  be  advocated  by  none.  It 
follows  that  its  only  place  is  after 
baptism. 

2.  The  Lord's  Supper  as  well  as 
baptism  is  a  symbol.  But  the  mean- 
ing of  the  two  symbols  is  not  the 
same.  Expressed  briefly,  baptism 
symbolizes  the  soul's  entrance  into 
life;  the  Supper  symbolizes  the 
fuller  participation  of  life.  Put, 
then,  the  Supper  before  baptism,  and 
you  spoil  the  natural  relation  of  the 
symbols,  and  of  course  destroy  their 
meaning. 

3.  The  practice  of  the  apostles  and 
of  the  churches  in  apostolic  times  is 
in  harmony  with  the  above.  There 
is  not  a  case  in  the  book  of  Acts  in 
which  the  Lord's  Supper  was  ad- 
ministered to  persons  who  had  not 
been  baptized.  The  primitive  prac- 
tice in  this  respect  should  be  our 
guide.  It  is  equivalent  to  divine  ap- 
pointment. It  is  equivalent  to  di- 
vine authority. 

4.  But  it  has  already  been  proved 
that  our  Lord's  command  to  be  bap- 
tized is  a  command  to  be  immersed. 
It  follows  that  neither  sprinkling 
nor  pouring  is  the  ritual  qualifica- 
tion for  the  Lord's  Supper.  Im- 
mersion is  the  ritual  qualification. 

5.  As   neither  baptism    nor  the 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 


;3I 


Lord's  Supper  is  to  be  observed  in 
heaven,  the  argument  that  unbap- 
tized  persons  may  commune  together 
here  at  the  Lord's  table,  because 
the  saints  will  commune  together  in 
heaven,  is  worthless.  Saints  will 
not  commune  together  in  heaven 
in  any  such  sense  as  we  are  con- 
sidering. The  question  is  one  per- 
taining to  the  visible,  organized 
bodies,  which  exist  only  in  this  world 
under  the  name  of  churches. 

6.  There  is  nothing  singular, 
therefore,  in  the  position  of  Baptist 
churches  respecting  even  ritual  com- 
munion. Like  nearly  all  Protest- 
ant churches,  they  hold  that  though 
given  spiritual  qualifications  entitle 
a  man  to  given  spiritual  privileges 
in  the  invisible,  unorganized 
church,  a  given  ritual  qualification, 
baptism,  is  necessary  to  entitle  one 
to  the  privileges  of  a  visible,  organ- 
ized church.  At  what  point,  then, 
do  others  separate  from  Baptist 
churches  ?  At  baptism, — something 
being  introduced  for  baptism  which 
is  not  baptism.  The  point  of  sep- 
aration is  not  on  the  question  of 
communion. 

In  the  name  of  the  Father,  etc. — 
The  popular  understanding  of  these 
words  is  incorrect.  It  does  not 
mean,  by  authority  of.  Into  the 
name  is  the  rendering  now  gener- 
ally admitted,  though  some  adhere 
to  the  common  version.  Into  the 
name  may  mean  into  "professed 
subjection"  to  the  Father,  etc. ;  or, 
into  the  obligations  due  to  the  Fa- 
ther. Name — "  All  that  belongs  to 
the  manifestation"  of  the  Father, 
etc.  Observe  that  the  singular  is 
used.  It  is  not  names,  though  the 
three  persons  of  the  Trinity  are 
mentioned.  We  must  not  conceive 
of  the  Father,  and  the  Son,  and  the 
Holy  Spirit,  as  so  distinct  that  they 
occupy  three  distinct  localities  side 
by  side.  Yet  they  are  distinct,  and 
equal  in  all  the  essential  attributes 
of  their  nature.  How  arrogant, 
blasphemous,  the  assumption  here 
made  by  Jesus  Christ,  if  he  was  not 


in  his  higher  nature  the  Word  (Lo- 
gos), that  was  with  God  and  was 
God! 

20.  Teaching  them  to  observe  all 
things — As  the  baptized  are  sup- 
posed to  have  been  made  disciples, 
they  are  already  taught  what  are  the 
conditions  of  salvation, — repentance 
and  faith.  From  the  time  of  their 
baptism,  which  is  supposed  to  fol- 
low immediately  after  their  accept- 
ance of  Christ,  they  are  to  be  in- 
structed in  all  that  Christ  has  re- 
vealed. This  includes  instruction 
in  the  Old  Testament  and  in  the  New. 
Christ  taught  his  disciples  the  mean- 
ing oi  the  Old,  and  much  of  what  he 
taught  them  besides  is  now  included 
in  the  New.  Here  is  a  lesson  of  vast 
importance  for  ministers,  Sabbath- 
school  teachers,  and  all  others  who 
can  teach,  and  for  those  who  are  to 
be  taught.  Converts  to  Christ  must 
be  taught,  or  they  will  have  either 
no  zeal,  or  "zeal  not  according  to 
knowledge."  They  should  be  taught 
to  observe  all  things,  etc. — not  to  do 
more  than  Christ  has  commanded, 
not  to  do  less.  They  should  be 
taught  that  Christ's  will  is  to  be 
learned  through  the  teachings  and 
the  practice  of  the  apostles,  as  well 
as  through  his  own  teachings  and 
practice.  They  should  be  taught  to 
do  exactly  what  Christ  has  enjoined, 
whether  it  pertain  to  the  state  of  the 
heart  or  to  a  rite.  They  should  be 
taught  to  attain  all  that  faith,  spir- 
ituality, devotedness,  zeal,  and 
meekness  in  the  family,  in  business, 
in  study,  in  the  affairs  of  the  nation, 
which  Christ  requires.  With  you — 
Apostles,  ministers,  teachers  of  the 
truth.  Alway — Literally,  all  the 
days,  that  is,  every  day.  Unto  the 
end  of  the  world — To  the  end  of  the 
Messianic  dispensation,  when  Christ 
shall  come  the  second  and  last  time. 
The  promise  is  made  not  only  to 
apostles  but  to  ministers  of  the  gos- 
pel to  the  end  of  time.  It  is  in- 
tended, substantially,  for  the  uni- 
versal Church  of  Christ.  Here  is 
divine  authority  for  making  known 


332  MATTHEW. 

he  gospel  to  men  of  every  nation,  I  sponsibility !   how  rich  the  prom- 
age,  and  color.     How  vast  the  re-  |  ise  1 


Praise  God,  from  whom  all  blessings  flow; 
Praise  him,  all  creatures  here  below; 
Praise  him  above,  ye  heavenly  host; 
Praise  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost. 


BS2575  .W725 

The  Gospel  according  to  Matthew  :  with 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  ( 

D0067  3774 

Date  Due 

*P  2p 

5ffl 

■ 

SEP    \    \ 

f) 

28870C.    IP 

11-13-87  321B0     MC  ■ 


